NBN Co under fire over mass switch off

As more Australians sign up for the NBN complaints are also on the rise – more than doubling last year to 27,000.

And the time taken to fix those problems is rising too – to over 100 days in some cases.

Complaints for NBN services rose nearly 160 per cent last year, with the most common including slow speeds, dropouts or no service at all.

The latest figures suggest service providers are struggling. It can take up to 70 days just to get connected.

Also read: Australia has slower internet than Kenya

NBN Co says wholesaler and retailers have to do better in 2018.

New rules from the federal regulator – including standard consumer information on things like speeds, quarterly reporting of complaints and tougher penalties up to $10 million – will offer a carrot for consumers and a big stick for providers.

Landline Disconnections

Also coming this year – more disconnections of landline phones from the copper network.

Almost a million will be unplugged over the next six months as the NBN moves in. Over 300,000 in NSW and around 200,000 in Victoria and Queensland.

NBN Co insist the mass switch off has been managed carefully, a spokesperson for the government-owned broadband company told Yahoo7 Finance.

“Premises have 18 months to switch over from their legacy copper services to the NBN network,” the spokesperson said.

“We have a carefully managed disconnection process in place with Telstra that ensures no one is left without a connection who doesn’t want one.”

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NBN Co insists it sends as many as five reminder letters to premises before switch off in addition to reminders sent by the telcos.

By the time the disconnection date arrives, the “vast majority” of internet services have already been migrated, the spokesperson added, although they admitted there is a “final single digit percentage yet to migrate who still want to migrate”.

At the disconnection date, Telstra’s disconnection process includes a period of soft dial tone on the landline to alert those who need to migrate.