Optus hack: Customers ditching telco following massive data breach

A new survey paints a depressing picture for Australia’s second biggest telco, which is fighting to regain the trust of its millions of customers.

The annual EFTM Mobile Phone Survey, of more than 2000 telecommunications customers, found that 56 per cent of current Optus customers agreed they were ‘considering changing telcos as a direct result of the Optus cyber attack’, while 10 per cent had already done so. Picture: Getty Images

Ten per cent of Optus mobile customers have left the company in the wake of its massive data breach, a survey has found, as the nation’s second-largest telecommunications provider fights to claw back trust from its millions of customers who had their personal data stolen.

The annual EFTM Mobile Phone Survey, of more than 2000 telecommunications customers, found that 56 per cent of current Optus customers agreed they were “considering changing telcos as a direct result of the Optus cyber attack”, while 10 per cent had already done so.

The survey found market leader Telstra commands a 30 per cent share of the market, a figure that climbs to 45 per cent including Telstra’s mobile virtual network operator brands including Aldi, Boost Mobile and Belong. Optus accounts for 24 per cent of the market and TPG/Vodafone has 15 per cent share.

“Like many people I expected there to be a lot of upset customers, but I didn’t expect to see as many people actively saying they have made the change … 10 per cent is a huge amount,” EFTM chief executive Trevor Long told The Australian.

“What this tells me is that it’s a real groundswell, and Optus will lose a lot of customers. For Optus to win back consumers it needs to change its approach to customers. The comments that came through were highly critical of Optus and its communication. In fact, they were less critical of the hack and more concerned about the fact that Optus had poorly communicated with them.

“All eyes in the telco industry are on the official churn rates when they become available, but so far there is no doubt there are customers moving their business.”

Details of exactly how many customers have left Optus will not be known until parent company Singtel publishes its next ­financial update next month.

Mr Long said comments from customers showed that most did not blame Optus for being hacked in the first place, but many were critical of the company’s communication.

One respondent wrote: “Optus’s explanation left me with more questions than answers. I am going to pay my phone off so I can switch telcos.”

Another said: “There has been no direct contact in the form of an email, or text or phone call about the cyber attack. Their handling has been appalling. I’m on a month-to-month plan so the only cost is the handset which is preventing me to move back to Telstra. I’m only just halfway through the 24 months.”

The research found customers are paying too much for their smartphone plans, with the average consumer using 24GB of data a month, but paying for 47GB – nearly double. Most customers could spend $10 a month less on their phone plans and still have enough data to suit their needs, the research found.

Optus did not respond to a ­request for comment.

Originally published as Optus hack: Customers ditching telco following massive data breach