NBN Co responds to TIO Annual Report: NBN Co zeroes in on industry collaboration to drive down complaints

NBN Co welcomes the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO)’s Annual Report 2018/2019, showing an overall decrease in the number of reported complaints made about services delivered over the nbn™ access network compared with the previous financial year.

The report points to a 16 per cent decrease year-on-year in the number of reported complaints made about services delivered over the nbn™ network, in what was the biggest build year in the history of the rollout, including:

• A 25 per cent reduction in the number of complaints regarding ‘connection or changing provider’ compared with the previous financial year.
• A 16 per cent decrease in the number of complaints about ‘service quality’ compared with the previous financial year.
• As at 30 June 2019, more than 5.5 million premises being connected to a service over the nbn™ network.
• As of 30 June 2019, almost 10 million homes and businesses were Ready To Connect, with three million of these premises added in a single year.

In July 2019, NBN Co joined a TIO industry working committee and was tasked with engaging retail service providers to investigate TIO complaints in an effort to more effectively address core complaint issues and improve the efficiency of complaints resolution. While the committee’s work is in its early stages, NBN Co will continue to seek industry engagement over the course of the year.

NBN Co Chief Customer Officer – Residential, Brad Whitcomb, said:

“As we close in on the completion of the network build, it’s never been more important for NBN Co, in collaboration with internet and phone providers, to ensure the transition to services over the nbn™ network is as seamless as possible for Australians.

“This includes continuing to meet the expectations of our customers by connecting them right the first time and if there is a fault on the network, we want to ensure it’s restored in a timely manner.

“Collaboration with our industry partners is critical to achieve this and our recent role in the TIO’s industry working committee, is one example of how we, alongside our retail partners, are ramping up our efforts to more efficiently address core issues and resolve complaints.

“With more than half of Australian premises now connected to the network, and the build nine months away from completion, we remain committed to ensuring Australians have a good experience on the nbn™ access network.”

Notes to editors:

• The TIO Annual Report for 2017/2018 reported ~41,597 complaints about services delivered over the nbn™ access network. The TIO Annual Report for 2018/2019 reported ~34,997 complaints about services delivered over the nbn™ access network.
• The number of complaints about 'connection or changing provider' fell by 25 per cent when comparing the 14,589  recorded in the 2017/2018 TIO Annual Report to the 11,635 in the 2018/19 TIO Annual Report. See note 4 for more information about the different methodologies in the TIO's Annual Report and December 2017 Six Month Update. See note 5 for more information about the number of premises added to the network.
• The number of complaints about 'service quality' fell by 16 per cent from 27,008 recorded in the 2017/2018 TIO Annual Report to the 23,362 in the 2018/2019 TIO Annual Report. See note 4 for more information about the different methodologies in the TIO's Annual Report and December 2017 Six Month Update. See note 5 for more information about the number of premises active on the network.
• The TIO report states that “Complaints that have been cancelled within the financial year are not included in this report. If a complaint has been reassigned from NBN Co to another network within the financial year, it will no longer appear in NBN Co statistics. As a result, the first half numbers are slightly lower than those published in the Six Month Update.” For more information on the methodologies of the TIO statistics, please refer to the TIO Annual Report.
• In the 12 months to 30 June 2019, NBN Co increased activations by 1,496,217 premises, equating to more than 5.5 million (5,532,087) total active premises on the nbn™ access network.
•  NBN Co’s June Monthly Progress Report shows customer experience metrics remained steady in fiscal ’19.
• NBN Co’s build completion commitment is that all standard installation premises in Australia are able to connect to the nbn™ access network as at the build completion date. This excludes premises in future new developments which will be an ongoing activity for NBN Co beyond the build completion date. It also excludes a small proportion of premises defined as ‘complex connections’ – which includes properties that are difficult to access, culturally significant areas and heritage sites – where connection depends on factors outside of NBN Co’s control such as permission from traditional owners, and where network construction to allow such premises to connect will be an ongoing activity of NBN Co beyond the build completion date.