Costs of local telephone communication too high:survey - News - Communications

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Costs of local telephone communication too high:survey

By Staff writers, ZDNet Australia
December 23, 2003
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Costs-of-local-telephone-communication-too-high-survey/0,130061791,120282139,00.htm

Consumer satisfaction over local call rates and line rentals has decreased this year, with more than two thirds of respondents to a survey indicating the costs were too high.

The Australian Communications Authority Consumer Satisfaction Survey 2003 has revealed that the proportion of people who considered costs too high for local calls and line rentals increased in 2003 compared with last year.

"More than two-thirds of both household (69 percent up from 67 percent in 2002) and small business (70 percent up from 64 percent in 2003) respondents now say that line rental costs are too high," said acting ACA chairman Dr Bob Horton. Thirty four percent of households considered local call costs too high, up from 31 percent in 2002, while the proportion of small businesses which considered local call costs too high rose from 34 percent in 2002 to 36 percent in 2003.

The proportion of respondents who considered national call costs too high also increased in 2003 compared to 2002, with the proportion of households dissatisfied with the costs rising from 27 percent to 34 percent in that time frame, and the proportion of small businesses disatissfied rising from 42 percent to 43 percent.

However, levels of satisfaction in the cost of both international calls and mobile calls increased this year compared with 2002. The proportion of households who thought international call costs were too high fell from 43 percent in 2002 to 37 percent in 2003, while the proportion of small businesses who considered international call costs too high fell from 44 percent to 34 percent.

The proportion of households who considered mobile call costs too high fell from 50 percent in 2002 to 43 percent in 2003 for households, and from 53 percent in 2002 to 47 percent in 2003 for small business.

The level of Internet penetration into the Australian population tapered off in 2003, with the proportion of households with Internet access increasing from 52 percent in 2002 to 55 percent in 2003. This compared to gains of at least 10 percentage points in the previous two years. The proportion of small businesses with Internet access actually fell from 69 percent in 2002 to 67 percent in 2003.