TIO Annual Report 2005/06

Ombudsman’s Overview

Competition policy, T3 and changes to cross-media laws dominated public discussion and comment in the communications industry for much of the 2005/06 year. While these issues are important in setting the industry scene, they are not matters in which the TIO scheme has a direct interest.

The principal interest and challenge facing the TIO, in what is rapidly becoming a single communications industry, is to maintain its place as a central element in the framework of consumer protections.

The reality of convergence, the continuing trend of new technologies and rising consumer expectations mean that the TIO cannot remain static. It must develop in step with these trends, while remaining faithful to its role of investigating, resolving and determining complaints.

The TIO Council has recognised this need by setting its imprimatur on 16 principles to guide the TIO in the rapidly changing industry. Of course, the real test lies in the application of the principles, but already the Council and Board have shown that they are prepared to make bold decisions.

Foremost there is the agreement that the TIO should become the escalated complaints handling body under the Mobile Premium Services Scheme. This decision goes a long way to fulfilling the concept of the TIO as a one-stop shop for consumer complaints, while reducing consumer confusion and discouraging forum shopping.

At the same time there is much scope for development of the TIO’s traditional work.

With increasing emphasis on facilities based competition, as providers such as Primus, Optus and iiNet install DSLAMs (DSLAMs are pieces of infrastructure that enable the provisioning of ADSL services) in Telstra exchanges across the country, new benefits and problems arise for consumers. Many consumers would be surprised, I think, at the prospect that they could lose their local landline number as a result of moving between carriers and networks, yet this is a real possibility with facilities-based competition.

The advent of VoIP (Voice over the Internet Protocol) also raises issues for consumers and the TIO. Potentially ubiquitous and very cheap, but free of technical standards, VoIP will eventually be an important type of service for consumers. For the TIO, the task is to identify VoIP providers who are not members of the scheme and bring them into the fold.

John Pinnock
Ombudsman

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