Issue No 12: 7 June 2018

ACOMMS 2018

www.acomms.com.au

Visit the 2017 ACOMMS photo gallery here and highlights video here. And see the 2017 winners here.

New Telco Rules Focus on Stronger Industry Cooperation to Help Consumers

Communications Alliance today welcomed the new complaints handling Standard for the telecommunications sector, published by the industry regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

The Standard is heavily based on the existing arrangements put in place by industry in its consumer protections Code but imposes some stronger timeframe requirements and an obligation on all players in the telco supply chain to work together to resolve customer complaints.

The ACMA also published a set of record-keeping rules that require service providers to furnish large volumes of additional data to the ACMA concerning complaints received by each company.

Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton, said industry was grateful for the opportunity to consult productively with the ACMA in recent months on the development of the new instruments, in a bid to ensure that the rules help improve customer experience and are informed by operational practicality and commercial reality.

“We hope the net result of these and the other rules still under development by the ACMA will contribute to a better experience for customers migrating to NBN-based services – an outcome that will be welcomed right across Australia,” Mr Stanton said.

“The instruments released today take effect from 1 July – little more than three weeks away.

“It needs to be recognised that for telecommunications providers to put in place new business processes, make changes to IT systems and train front-line staff in order to be able to comply with new rules – all in the space of three weeks – is virtually impossible.

“We hope that the regulator recognises this reality and will exercise some understanding while service providers are racing to become compliant.”

Changes to Annual Carrier Licence Charge

The Communications Alliance Satellite Services Working Group (SSWG) has provided a response to the ACMA on the Changes to Annual Carrier Licence Charge 2017–18 consultation paper. The SSWG has proposed that it may be timely to revisit the Carrier eligible revenue threshold, which was set about set ten years ago, noting the changes to the potential number of participating Carriers in the market and CPI increases.

Amending Licensing Arrangements for Body Scanners at Australian Airports

The Communications Alliance Satellite Services Working Group (SSWG) has commended the ACMA in a response on its proposed amendments to simplify the licensing arrangements for body scanners at Australian airports. In general, Communications Alliance supports any advances in spectrum management that facilitate multiple users in any particular band and believes this paradigm should be used when designing future licensing arrangements for 5G services where sharing has been found to be possible.

The SSWG also strongly supports the ACMA’s intention to bring regulation into line with contemporary international frameworks. This has the dual benefits of flexibility and economic advantages for the scanner community, whilst taking into account modern needs and developments in aviation communications.

New Member

Communications Alliance is pleased to welcome the following new member;

The International Institute of Communications event that brings together local and international regulators, industry, academia and civil society to share views on the role of regulation in today’s world – with local and international speakers and delegates providing comparisons and regional experiences. 

3-4 July 2018
University of Technology Sydney

Register here