Telco complaints on the increase

Telco complaints to the Australian Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) have risen over January to March but are better than this time last year, as revealed in the ombudsman’s recently released Complaints in Context report.

Every quarter, the TIO, in conjunction with Communications Alliance, publishes the report covering landline, mobile and internet service complaints from residential and small business consumers.

Complaints about all telcos rose to 6.2 per 10,000 services in operation (SIO), an increase of 29.2% quarter on quarter with Optus generating the highest complaints ratio (7.9 complaints per 10,000 SIO) and Telstra following with 6.4 per 10,000 SIO.

The January to March quarter generally sees an increase in complaints to the TIO with seasonal factors often contributing to more complaints, such as summer weather events that can disrupt fixed line services.

However, the total complaints for the quarter showed a 13.8% decrease on the same time last year. During the same quarter last year there was a 7.4% increase in complaints as a proportion of telcos’ SIO, from 6.7 to 7.2.

The Communications Alliance said complaints per 10,000 SIO increased for four of the five industry participants during the January quarter.

To view the Complaints in Context quarterly report click here.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Izvorinka Jankovic