Complaints about phone and internet service were down 33.4% in the most recent fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, but still Poor cellular coverage has been the number one concern for telecom services, according to the latest report from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).
That TIO reports that issues with connection delays, non-cancellation of a service and billing issues have improved year-on-year, with the number of complaints down by over 40% – while complaints about a telco being unavailable have dropped significantly and this is no longer a major issue for private consumers and small businesses.
And while the total number of complaints fell significantly during this period, mobile complaints increased to 39.7% of all complaints, up from 32.7% last year. – the highest proportion of complaints about mobile services in over five years.
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Mobile complaints about poor coverage increased by 6.3%, and problems with partially limited cellular service and cellular service outages increased by 12.4% and 9.9%, respectively.
Other important points are:
- The TIO received 26,989 complaints about internet services, down 32.3% year-on-year.
- Complaints about landline and multiple services dropped by over 45%. In 2021-22 there were 6,814 complaints about landline services.
- The number of complaints about telephone and internet services from small businesses fell by 44.2%.
- Cell phone complaints that had a glitch or connection problem increased by 2.4%. Error and connection complaints went down for all other types of service.
- Poor cellular coverage issues appeared in the top ten issues in all states and territories except the Australian Capital Territory.
TIO notes that some providers saw significant improvements in complaint counts in 2021-22. Complaints about Telstra were down 43.7% this year, and complaints about Southern Phone were down 47%. Complaints increased at Aussie Broadband, Dodo and Medion (which offer products and services under the “ALDImobile” brand).
The number of escalated complaints decreased by 36.8% during this period compared to the previous year, with most unresolved complaints remaining about customer service, billing issues and service outages. Escalated complaints of poor cellular coverage issues fell much less than other issues, at just 5.7% — while most other issues fell by over 30%
“It’s really gratifying to see the significant drop in complaints this year. Telecom companies have done well to work with consumers to resolve most issues before they come to us,” he said Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert.
“Our data shows that over the past fiscal year, as the pandemic cooled, fewer premises were connected to the NBN network and improvements were made in the industry, internet complaints dropped significantly. But we haven’t seen the same improvements in cellular service, and we’ve had an increase in the number of people who have complained to us about poor cellular coverage.
“Mobile services are essential for things like banking, shopping, accessing health and government services, and socializing, and consumers tell us their lives get disrupted when they have problems with their mobile service.
“While we’ve seen some great improvements, Australia’s telcos need to do more to resolve cellular service complaints, including poor cellular coverage, before consumers come to my office for help.”
Overall, TIO reports that it received 79,534 complaints in the last fiscal year, a decrease of 33.4% – and this was the lowest volume of complaints TIO has received in over three years and the largest percentage decrease in 10 years.
The TIO report also reveals:
Complaints from private consumers
- 68,546 complaints came from private consumers, a 31.3% decrease in volume compared to the previous year
- Most of the complaints from residential customers concerned their internet and mobile phone services
- All expenses decreased except for poor cellular coverage. Issues with a bill and poor customer service made up the majority of complaints.
Small Business Complaints
- 10,988 complaints came from small businesses, down 44.2% from the previous year
- Small business complaints accounted for 13.8% of all complaints
- All of the top ten small business complaints were down, some by over 50%.
Complaints about internet, mobile, multiple and landline services
- 31,556 complaints were about mobile services, compared to 26,989 complaints about internet services.
- Fixed-line complaints fell by 47.8% year-on-year. There were 6,814 complaints about landline services.
- There were 13,673 complaints about multiple services, down 48.7% from the previous year.
- There were 502 complaints about property.
Complaint problems with phone and internet services
- All expenses decreased except for poor cellular coverage. Complaints about poor cell phone coverage increased by 6.1% in overall complaints
- Poor customer service and problems with a bill were the most common problems reported by consumers.
- The number of complaints about connection delays, non-cancellation of a service and billing problems has decreased by over 40% compared to the previous year.
- Complaints about the unavailability of a telecommunications provider have decreased significantly and are no longer among the top ten problems.
- Mobile complaints of partially limited cellular service increased by 12.4% and mobile complaints of service outages increased by 9.9%.
Error and connectivity complaints about services provided over the NBN and other networks
- Complaints about disruption and connection problems still make up almost half of our complaints at 49.6%. This was slightly higher than in the previous year at 47.1%.
- Reducing the volume of interference and connection complaints across all service types except cellular services. Cell phone complaints that had a glitch or connection problem increased by 2.4%.
- The main reason for the increase in interference and connection complaints with mobile services was The main reason for the increase in interference and connection complaints with mobile services was the increase in complaints about poor mobile coverage.
- The proportion of interference and connection complaints related to Internet, landline and multiple services provided through the NBN decreased from 62.7% to 55.9%.
Complaints about Service Providers
- There were 41,741 complaints about Telstra, down 43.7%. Complaints about Southern Phone were also down 47%.
- Complaints increased at Aussie Broadband, Dodo and Medion (which offer products and services under the “ALDImobile” brand).
Complaints by state
- The number of complaints in each state and territory has decreased compared to fiscal 2020-21.
- Poor cellular coverage issues appeared in the top ten issues in all states and territories except the Australian Capital Territory.
- Poor cellular coverage issues were the only problem growing in some states and territories. All other problems have gone down.
