The Australian Communications Industry Forum's (ACIF) chief executive officer, Johanna Plante, confirmed that Telstra, SingTel Optus, AAPT and several smaller broadband industry players have formed a working group to make recommendations concerning issues that DSL users face when attempting to switch providers. The move comes as broadband community interest groups highlight a service continuity problem DSL users face when contemplating switching from Telstra ADSL to a competing service provider.
Current DSL provisioning rules allow Telstra to remove a customer from a line on which ADSL is available and immediately register the line as vacant if he or she asks to switch to another provider. The customer must then go to the back of a queue for a new service while their new service provider undertakes the paperwork required to have the customer transferred onto its network by Telstra technicians.
High-profile telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said that in most cases the customer transfer process should involve a simple software level switch that can be completed within days. However, one complainant to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) argues Telstra is unnecessarily delaying the transfer process, bogging the move down in paperwork, rather than undertaking what is usually a relatively simple accounting switch.
"All [competing providers] can do is fax Telstra and hope for the best...that's what it boils down to in every case," said the complainant.
A Telstra spokesperson told ZDNet Australia the issue is one that impacts the entire industry and consequently not one that the carrier could address on its own.
Plante said one option available to the working group to address customer issues was to ratify a new customer transfer code for DSL service providers. However, she warned that it was too early in the commission's deliberations to predict whether a new code would be established.
A new code would add to the substantial number of transfer codes ACIF already oversees, including mobile number portability, local number portability, commercial churn and pre-selection codes.
Plante hinted that the ACIF may conduct a major overhaul to its transfer codes, amalgamating them all under a single regulatory transfer code.
"Because there are a number of [codes] and we've now got the issue of broadband customers potentially transferring between DSL providers, we're actually looking at the general issue of customer transfer in a more holistic sense and whether there should be a single code developed to cover a lot of those issues," said Plante.
The complainant to the TIO, a former IT professional, claims Telstra is generating an artificial disincentive for those attempting to switch from its retail ADSL service to competitors that lease its network.
He says enquiries pursued with technicians employed by Telstra's competitors have revealed that switching providers should only require a physical network switch in instances when a customer wishes to move to a non-Telstra wholesale provider. Ozemail and iPrimus are among the few that offer their own network resources. In any other case, he said, a transfer should only require an "accounting switch" which could be done, without rerouting services, in a matter of hours.
"Telstra is sitting there saying 'this is what's going to happen, not because it has to happen but because that's the way we're going to do it' and they're doing it that way because it suits them," he said.
He claims Telstra Big Pond staff told him that they were "just another service provider" and consequently unable to help him with his concerns. Furthermore he said that he "hasn't been able to get past the first rank of phones" in his attempts to speak to Telstra about the matter.
As a consequence he had to put his concerns to the service providers that he was interested switching to.
"I just can't find any [ADSL] service provider able to give my an iron clad guarantee without actually saying that I'm going to be disconnected and the waiting list will apply," he said.
"Some have skipped around it and avoided talking about it but when pressed they finally admit it -- I don't know what else there is to do."
However, Budde said the customer transfer system was working well and it would be difficult to discern between genuine technical problems and deliberate delay tactics.
"In an area where everything is in place, where your DSL connections are in place and where Telstra is operating and the competitor is operating then there should not be any problem," said Budde. "In that sort of situation if there are any problems then it looks to me its more deliberately set in place or it's stupidity or unwillingness to cooperate, its not a technical issue."
Budde said the reprovisioning problems are likely to be limited reflecting the low number of customer transfer rates between providers.
However, TIO officials say it is probable that the dimensions of the problem are significant if Telstra is willing to take the step of speaking to its competitors to resolve the issue.
"I'd say the providers have been seeing some issues to all agree to put resources into a working group to look at the best way to address the issue of [DSL customer transfer]," said Plante.
I switched to Telstra Broadband ten days ago.
I regret it already !
First day, had to reconnect eight times.
Second day only five times.
Third day down to four times
Fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth days, similar pattern.
'Providers' help line gave me little or no help
and now my PC seems to have a mind of it's own.
Tol;d the helpline that I'll be sending an invoice for the time I have to spend fixing up problems !
Sent them an email follow up message, replied that they are giving me a 25% credit of the next months fees
John F.