The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has found the price of online services in Australia has been falling in recent months and the amount of data allowed increasing, but continued scrutiny of the nation’s telecommunications industry was still needed.
In its communication report for 2017-18, the ACCC found that data downloads jumped 45 per cent on mobiles and 27 per cent for fixed line services.
During the period prices for mobile phone services dropped by 8.3 per cent in real terms, while fixed broadband prices fell by 1.5 per cent.
Chair of the ACCC, Rod Sims said consumers were currently benefitting from the falling prices and increased data allowances.
“The growth in data inclusions in fixed and mobile plans supports, and is potentially driving, the increased consumption of data by consumers,” Mr Sims said.
“We do have concerns, however, that not all consumers have experienced improvements, or will continue to do so in the future, which is why we are continuing our review of NBN appointment, connection and repair commitments.”
The report also showed that minutes spent talking on fixed line calls continued to decline, and time spent on mobile calls was stable, in contrast to the growth of previous years.
“It’s notable that, for the first time in recent years, the amount of minutes Australians spent talking on their mobiles remained steady,” Mr Sims said.
“We’re increasingly using social media and over-the-top services like Messenger, WhatsApp and Viber to communicate with each other.”
The report found that average network congestion had fallen from almost 5.5 hours per week to 25 minutes per week over the year.
It also found however that consumer complaints to the ACCC and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman remained high with complaints about mobile services the most common, with key issues including poor mobile phone coverage, excess data charges and misleading sales practices.
The ACCC’s 72-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
