Complaints regarding xDSL services have increased by 25.6 percent over the previous quarter, while complaints pertaining to cable connections fell and those relating to satellite connections remained steady.
Among other issues the report exposed the lack of reliability associated with xDSL services.
"Far from being an 'always on' access technology, consumers are finding that ADSL, in particular, is subject to repeated and unexpected outages, over and above necessary time for network upgrades," the report stated, saying that complaints regarding excessive outages had risen from 40 in the June quarter to 45 in the September quarter.
The report also pointed to flaws in service level agreements [SLA], saying that they provided only partial protection for consumers.
"Telstra's SLA for ADSL, introduced in July, for instance, does not cover faults in the copper [connection] because, it is argued, such faults are covered by the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG). Nevertheless, a fault in the [connection] may effectively lead to a lack of broadband access," the report said.
Wading into the vexed pair-gain debate, the TIO confirmed that Telstra's use of Analogue Termination Units (ATU) to enable multiple voice lines via limited copper connections had been cause for concern.
"Many consumers are finding that ADSL is not available to them because of a decision by Telstra to provide them with access lines, often for dial-up Internet access, by technologies known as pair-gains or the [ATU]," the report stated. "In many instances customers were not told of this Internet limitation."
The use of Acceptable Usage Policies to impose download limits, without appropriate consultation was criticised - as was the "lag time" associated with online usage meters, with the TIO pointing out the users were often unable to calculate their overall usage requirements and restrictions.
Finally, the report called for the establishment of a "single industry standard for the calculation of megabytes and gigabytes", noting Telstra's use of binary terminology to calculate megabytes and decimal for gigabytes.
The TIO should have a good look at ADSL access. Less than 10Km from Geelong, 2Km from my local exchange (GROX)and no indication when/if it will be ADSL enabled.