Archive | April, 2009

ACCC rejects Telstra ULL undertaking

By on 29 April 2009 in General, Telstra, Trade Practices Act

thirtyThe Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) yesterday announced it had rejected Telstra’s undertaking to charge competitors a $30 monthly fee to access ULL in metropolitan areas.

ACCC expressed surprise that Telstra’s $30 application worked out to be higher than the previous proposal of $30 for metropolitan areas, which was rejected in 2006.

Continue Reading →

Share
Comments { 0 }

Germans take down ACMA black list leak site

By on 14 April 2009 in General, Telecommunications Act

leaky-tapIt has been reported that German domain name regulator, DENIC, has taken down the popular website www.wikileaks.de shortly after it published ACMA’s internet filtering trial black list.

Over recent weeks, many reports have emerged of the ACMA internet filtering trial black list having been published on different websites, potentially compromising the Government’s current internet filtering trials. One such website was www.Wikileaks.de.

Continue Reading →

Share
Comments { 0 }

Complaint handling: Lessons for CSPs

By on 6 April 2009 in Code compliance, TIO

complaint-deptThe TIO recently released its complaints data for the December 2008 quarter, which identifies problem areas for ISPs and telcos – one of those is complaint handling.

The report is a good opportunity to review what’s required of CSPs by the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code.

Continue Reading →

Share
Comments { 0 }

Memo to TPG: Read ACCC’s lips

By on 1 April 2009 in advertising, How not to do it, Trade Practices Act

tpg-1aThis week, ACCC punched up phone card dealer Tel.Pacific for pricing conditions that were so unclear they were found to be misleading.  Looking at TPG’s web site, their marketers need to pay more attention.

ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel can’t be much clearer than this:

‘It is highly unsatisfactory, if not illegal, for companies to make strong headline claims about their product and then seek to improperly qualify those claims in an avalanche of fine print … The ACCC has drawn a line in the sand in relation to the poor advertising practices of telecommunications companies.  The industry is squarely on notice .’

Yet one of TPG’s front page offers remains very unclear about what you get for your money.

Continue Reading →

Share
Comments { 0 }