Eye-Watering Fines For Telcos Internet Speed Lies: Australia’s three largest telcos have been ordered to pay eye-watering fines for lying to customers in their ads about NBN internet plans.
A telephone company is also referred to as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator.
Largest Aussie Telcos Slapped With Massive Fines For Misleading Customers On NBN Plans
Eye Watering Fines For Telcos Internet Speed Lies: Telstra will fork out $15m, Optus $13.5m, and TPG $5m after admitting they made false or misleading representations over their 50 or 100 megabytes per second (Mbps) fiber to the node (FTTN) plans.
The fines total $33.5m after the consumer watchdog brought proceedings against the tech giants.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Watchdog (ACCC) said all three internet service providers promised to tell customers within a reasonable time frame if the speeds they were paying for could not be reached on their NBN connections.
They also said they would offer customers options, including moving to cheaper plans with a refund, if they could not reach the maximum speed on their plans.
All three companies have admitted their statements were false or misleading and in breach of Australian Consumer Law.
None of them had adequate systems, policies, and processes in place to ensure they would do what they said they would, ACCC commissioner Liza Carver said.
“Fast and reliable internet is a necessity for Australian households; consumers need accurate information when choosing the best internet plan to meet their needs,” she said.
One such ad by TPG offered typical evening speeds of up to 43.7mbps.
At the bottom of its information, it stated the company would inform customers of their maximum line sync speed when available. Its disclaimer stated people on higher-speed NBN plans could “downgrade” to a lower-speed plan without penalties.
NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw Credit: News Corp AustraliaThe ACCC said the misleading statements were made on Optus, Telstra, and TPG’s websites and in emails and telesales.
They affected nearly 120,000 people and were made for at least 12 months between 2019 and 2020.
Telstra, Optus, and TPG admitted to not notifying consumers whose maximum attainable speeds were lower than the speed of their purchased plan. They falsely represented their NBN connections were capable of attaining higher speeds.
“Some customers may have paid for a 50 or 100 Mbps, believing NBN connection supports the higher download speeds. Even though they would have been better off paying for a lower speed plan,” Ms. Carver said.
So the promises they made to their customers and in undertakings previously provided to the ACCC regarding speed claims for their NBN plans in 2017.”
NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz Credit: News Corp AustraliaThe whopping fines come after the ACCC took the telcos to court over their statements to potential customers last year.
All three companies have provided refunds to impacted customers.
In late 2017, Telstra, Optus, and TPG provided court-enforceable undertakings to provide remedies to customers.
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