The blame game continues: ISPs lash out at NBN boss for “land grab” comments

News
By
published

Government steps in to soothe bruised egos

Following the publication of NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow’s position paper in which he blamed the Australian internet service providers for a price war and customer dissatisfaction, the resellers have turned the tables and are now pointing the finger at NBN Co.

The “land grab” mentality comments from Morrow had Damian Kay, Inabox’s top man, taking to LinkedIn to post his responding rant. "Enough Bill. This blame game is not helping the consumer. The model is flawed and everyone but you seems to get it. With no direct access to NBN for most RSPs due to 121 POIs, we couldn't offer a guaranteed throughput service for a greater price as we can't control the end to end experience. We are forced to go through 'The Big 4'. So stop the rhetoric and think about this holistically," he wrote.

MyRepublic’s managing director Nicholas Demos agreed with Kay and added, “The problem is the pricing model is not fit for purpose. The NBN is meant to provide a level playing field so that RSPs can deliver better speeds and service to the Australian consumer.” 

Everybody, calm down!

With the blame game heating up, the Federal Government has decided to step in to control the issue, with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) saying it will use “its formal powers under the Telecommunications Act to collect information from businesses across the NBN supply chain."

After a discussion between ACMA and and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), it has been decided that if things get out of hand, ACMA will force 21 Australian ISPs to submit data on how they troubleshoot when faced with issues, “such as fault handling, connection timeframes, appointment keeping, telephone number porting, and more”.

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said, “This information will be used to identify where customer issues most commonly arise and how those issues can be either avoided or resolved more quickly.”

Sharmishta Sarkar
Sharmishta Sarkar
Managing Editor (APAC)

While she's happiest with a camera in her hand, Sharmishta's main priority is being TechRadar's APAC Managing Editor, looking after the day-to-day functioning of the Australian, New Zealand and Singapore editions of the site, steering everything from news and reviews to ecommerce content like deals and coupon codes. While she loves reviewing cameras and lenses when she can, she's also an avid reader and has become quite the expert on ereaders and E Ink writing tablets, having appeared on Singaporean radio to talk about these underrated devices. Other than her duties at TechRadar, she's also the Managing Editor of the Australian edition of Digital Camera World, and writes for Tom's Guide and T3.