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What your mobile company isn’t telling you
Does your phone take ages to download, despite being on an “unlimited” plan?
You’re not imagining it. Your telco has been misleading about what the term “unlimited” means.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) lashed out at Optus, Vodafone and Telstra for making misleading claims about their services, threatening fines of up to $10 million.
Between March and June 2018, the three companies were found to have advertised “unlimited” mobile data, but imposed speed caps of 1.5Mbps after a certain threshold was reached.
What does 1.5Mbps mean?
According to telecommunications mapping company, OpenSignal, the average 4G download connection speed in Australia is 33.76Mbps – so the 1.5Mbps speed limit is a sharp cut.
Netflix supports 1.5Mbps streaming, but users will face blurry and pixelated videos. According to finder.com.au analysis, 1.5Mbps is even less suitable for those watching Stan or Foxtel now.
However, it’s unlikely consumers will find a 1.5Mbps limit a major impediment for listening to music, with Spotify, Google Play and Apple Music supporting the speed.
Consumers are also unlikely to notice the difference when scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, although they will notice the longer wait time when loading a web page, and images, buttons and menus will also take longer to act.
According to the analysis, Facebook users will experience an average 1.5Mbps load time of 5.02 seconds, versus a 2.13 second load time for a 22Mbps connection, or a slower 4G service.
Also read: 6 reasons you should buy the iPhone 8 over the new iPhone XS
Optus’ plan
The “unlimited” plan included a 1.5Mbps speed limit on streaming, tethering and downloads, meaning users could face buffering issues.
The ACCC said heavy data uses may also be placed further down the queue in busy periods.
Vodafone’s plan
This “unlimited” plan provided a data allowance at regular speed. However, once this threshold was reached, users were hit with the 1.5Mbps limit.
Telstra’s plan
Likewise, Telstra’s “unlimited” plans gave users 40GB of use at normal speeds. Breach that, and users were faced with frustrating 1.5Mbps speed limits, and further speed limits in busy periods.
The ACCC said the telcos failed to tell consumers the reality behind their ‘unlimited’ offers, and warned that Telstra’s advertisements were actually in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
Telstra’s advertisements said: “One word for Australia’s best mobile network. Unlimited.”
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The good news
The ACCC noted that following its interventions, and decisions made by the Federal Court, all three telcos have stopped describing their products as offering “unlimited” data.
“It is about time [telcos] showed more respect for their customers and the Australian Consumer Law,” ACCC chair, Rod Sims said.
“With much higher penalties now available for breaches of consumer law, I hope they will take their obligations more seriously. From now on consumer law penalties will seriously affect their bottom line, and we will not hesitate to seek the highest possible penalties.”
Companies in breach of the Australian Consumer Law will face penalties of either $10 million, three times the benefit received as a result of the contravention or 10 per cent of the annual turnover in the preceding year.
