The Trouble with Telcos

The COVID-19 crisis has reaffirmed the essential nature of our phone and internet services. Sadly, the crisis has also shown that telco companies can’t be trusted to do what’s right by their customers.

It is unacceptable that phone and internet providers failed to offer appropriate financial hardship assistance and cut people off from this essential service – especially during a health crisis.

Can you take two minutes to send the report to your Federal MP asking them to treat telecommunications like the essential service that it is?

The COVID-19 crisis has reaffirmed the essential nature of our phone and internet services. Sadly, the crisis has also shown that telco companies can’t be trusted to do what’s right by their customers.

It is unacceptable that phone and internet providers failed to offer appropriate financial hardship assistance and cut people off from this essential service – especially during a health crisis.

Can you take two minutes to send the report to your Federal MP asking them to treat telecommunications like the essential service that it is?

Email your MP

Right now, the Australian Government is reviewing ‘choice and fairness’ within the telecommunications industry.

This is an ideal opportunity to stress the importance of treating telecommunication services as essential, with the necessary consumer safeguards in place.

Your email will have more impact if you take a few minutes to personalise it, but we’ve included a sample email to get you started.

Make sure to let us know at [email protected] if you receive a response from your MP.

Find your local rep

Subject:

I’m writing to express my concern about how people have been treated by their phone and internet providers, and to make sure you’ve seen the latest report from the Consumer Action Law Centre.

The report, ‘The Trouble with Telcos: Stories from 2020’, includes case studies and data documenting the ways the telecommunications industry continues to fail the community, even during the COVID-19 crisis.

You can read the report here: https://consumeraction.org.au/report-reveals-telco-failures-during-covid-19-crisis/

It shows that the telco industry response to people during the COVID-19 crisis was wholly inadequate for an essential service, with people being:

• unable to access affordable hardship assistance,
• forced to take out more credit to pay for bills,
• pursued by debt collectors even during hard lockdown, or
• cut off from their ability to access basic services, such as a doctor or school.

This confirms the need for improved consumer safeguards that ensure people are treated fairly by their telco providers, especially when they are in financial hardship.

I ask that you advocate for better safeguards for your constituents. Telco providers need to be subject to enforceable rules developed by an independent regulator – they can’t be allowed to write their own rules any longer.

I look forward to receiving your reply.

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