ACMA: Telcos maintain high service standard

Australia’s leading telcos put in a strong performance in meeting new connection and fault repair standards during the September quarter according to the communications regulator.

In the releasing its latest Telecommunications Performance Data report, the
ACMA said that AAPT, Optus, Primus and Telstra had all complied with their Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) obligations.

According to Communications Minister Helen Coonan, Telstra completed 96 percent of its new service connections and 92 percent of fault repairs within the timeframes set down by the CSG.

Optus and AAPT completed 93 percent and 97 percent of their new service connections within the CSG timeframes respectively, she said.

The CSG covers fixed phone services, particularly the time it takes to connect and repair telephone services. The ACMA considers a result of 90 percent or more to be satisfactory

While the percentage of payphone faults cleared within three working days in remote areas had increased by two percent to 71 percent since the June quarter, Telstra’s score was still too low, Coonan said.

“Given the importance of payphones in remote communities, including Indigenous communities, there needs to be significant improvement in fault repair timeframes,” he said. “I will be seeking Telstra’s co-operation to ensure that repair performance can be significantly enhanced.”

The full report can be reached at the ACMA website.