TIO Annual Report 2004/05

Case Studies

Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS)

The complaint:

The TIO received a complaint about a HiBIS satellite service not meeting the required standards set by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA). The complainant claimed that the service was very slow and dropped out repeatedly. He also claimed that his ISP had recently changed hands and that the new owner had changed his contract so that he could not do file sharing. He wanted to cancel his contract with no penalty.

TIO response:

The complaint was not resolved with the initial referral to the member and the TIO escalated the case to level 2. The member agreed that there had been some problems with the service but thought that it had made reasonable attempts to help the complainant. It offered to release the complainant from the contract if he signed a non-disclosure agreement. After seeking advice from DCITA, the TIO decided that the use of a non-disclosure agreement in a complaint about a HiBIS service would be inappropriate, given that the scheme is publicly funded.

The outcome:

After further discussions with the TIO, the member agreed to release the complainant from the contract with no further charges, without signing a non-disclosure agreement. The complainant was happy with this outcome.

HiBIS is a government initiative that provides registered internet service providers with incentive payments to supply broadband services in regional, rural and remote areas at prices comparable to those available in metropolitan areas.

> NEXT Systemic Complaints Investigation Procedure