The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued its final set of rules for telecommunications companies (telcos) connecting subscribers to the National Broadband Network (NBN).
The new rules were sparked by ACMA research revealing that almost one in six households moving to the NBN had been left without a working connection for more than a week and almost one in 10 for more than two weeks.
Chair of ACMA, Nerida O’Loughlin said the rules would give consumers greater confidence that their telco would make sure their new NBN service would work as expected.
Ms O’Loughlin said the ACMA rules would require telcos to conduct a line test to check their customer’s new NBN service was working after installation and to verify that any existing copper line used to connect a customer to their NBN service was capable of delivering the maximum data speed specified in their chosen plan.
In addition, telcos should offer an interim service or make another acceptable arrangement to customers where their new NBN service was not working and could not be fixed within three days.
“For some consumers, an acceptable arrangement might be an uplift in their mobile data allowance; for others, it might be a billing rebate or payment to help cover the data charges,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
She said the new requirements complemented the recently announced Service Continuity Standard, and cover Fibre to the Node, building and curb technologies.
