ACMA provides stronger consumer protections during telco outages

Telco customers will soon be kept better informed during network outages, under new rules announced this week by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Set to commence later this year, the rules will see telco customers updated during localised outages, including when an outage occurs, the locations affected, the likely cause of the outage, the types of services impacted and an estimated timeframe for the issue to be resolved.

ACMA member Samantha Yorke said the changes are a vital step in addressing the impact that outages can have on individuals and communities that rely on these services.

“When your phone or internet goes down, it’s not just frustrating — it can cause significant issues, including disrupting businesses and impacting public safety,” Yorke said.

“These new rules will make sure that telco customers are kept up to date about what is going on during local outages and informed about when their service might be restored.

“Telcos must also take extra efforts to keep consumers who are more at risk of harm connected during an outage.”

Other new obligations will require telcos to provide information about outages to police, fire and ambulance services, to report to the ACMA, and to improve general complaints-handling processes. The rules will also provide greater certainty that calls to the Triple Zero emergency service will be carried where a telco network suffers an outage but an alternative telco network is available to carry the call.

“Improving industry accountability for the carriage of calls to Triple Zero will give Australians greater confidence that their safety is prioritised when networks are down,” Yorke said.

The ACMA has already put in place rules that commenced in December 2024 that require telcos to prioritise customer communications in major outages impacting 100,000 or more services. The new rules cover outages that affect 1000 or more services in regional Australia (for more than six hours) and 250 or more services in remote Australia (for more than three hours).

The ACMA has a range of powers to enforce the new rules, including financial penalties or commencing civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia. The rules have been made following directions issued by Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland, addressing recommendations made in the review of the Optus nationwide network outage of 8 November 2023.

“These rules are a significant uplift in protections for Australian telco consumers,” Yorke said. “We will be closely monitoring compliance with the new obligations and will review the customer communications obligations 12 months from their introduction.”

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