Senator Rod Kemp, acting in the role of Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts while Senator Richard Alston is overseas promoting Technology Australia, announced yesterday the federal government has directed the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) to bar access to premium rate services when the total premium rate bill exceeds a set amount each month.
Consumers will be able to opt-out of the scheme, but initially the cap will apply to all residential customers in Australia. The plan is designed to restrict the Internet dumping, whereby a computer user is disconnected from their ISP and reconnected to the Internet through a 190 premium number, which can be charged at up to AU$5.50 per minute.
Senator Alston announced this move last November, and the ACA will now move to determine at what dollar figure the restrictions should be set. When the scheme was announced last year it was derided by industry groups, who pointed out that controlling 190 numbers might have the effect of pushing Internet dumpers into the 0011 International range, over which Australian telcos have less control.
The Government has also directed the ACA to investigate whether the premium rate service providers' self-regulatory code of practice should be registered under the Telecommunications Act 1997. This would enable the ACA to enforce the code through remedial directions.
