One of the jobs of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is to track whether phone companies and internet service providers are meeting regulatory requirements. Today, it announced it had issued formal warnings to 39 providers for not meeting basic requirements around paperwork and customer information. That would make us cautious about using any of them.
Hanging up picture from Shutterstock
Any comms provider operating in Australia has to lodge documents with industry body CommCom by 1 April each year demonstrating that it meets the requirements of the TCP Code. That code includes requirements that providers offer accurate summaries of their costs and notifications of excessive usage. The companies receiving a warning have not submitted the required paperwork to CommCom and have not responded to subsequent contact from ACMA.
Of the 39 names on the list, I actually only recognised three: mobile provider Lebara (notable for targeting users who make lots of overseas calls), AusBBS (notable for its unusual NBN plans) and Yatango (notable for its unusual crowdsourcing approach). Here’s the full list of 39 who were sent warnings:
Advanced Future Technology | Rival Networks Pty Ltd |
Allconnect Telecommunications Pty. Limited | Saunders Capital Holdings Pty Ltd |
AussieSim Pty Ltd | SMS Global Pty Ltd |
Australian Broadband Service Pty Limited | Spintel Pty Ltd |
BKB Internet Pty Ltd | Switchtel Pty Ltd |
Btel Communications Pty Ltd | Talk Talk Pty Ltd |
C RHODES & L.F RHODES | Talk365 Pty Ltd |
Cybertel Telecom Pty Ltd | Telecube Pty Ltd |
Forinton, Justin Paul | Texcel Communications Pty Ltd |
Integrated Data Networks Management Australia Pty Ltd | The Trustee for M & E ALCHI FAMILY TRUST |
Intelico Pty Ltd | The Trustee for the Talk 3 Trust |
Lebara Australia Limited | The Trustee for the Teligent Trust |
Logitel Pty Ltd | Total Group Pty Ltd |
MGL Telecoms (Aust) Pty Limited | Travel&Travel Pty Ltd |
NBNSP Pty Ltd | Voicetalk Pty Ltd |
Next Business Telecommunications Pty Ltd | VOIPEX Pty Ltd |
Norris Technology Pty Limited | VTelecom |
Nu Communications Pty Ltd | Winderee investments Pty Ltd |
R.J Hicks & B.D McIntosh & N Somner | Yatango Mobile (Australia) Pty Ltd |
Real Sim Pty Ltd |
The market for phone and internet services is competitive; I wouldn’t be choosing a company that is, at best, disorganised.
Comments
10 responses to “These Are The 39 Phone Companies And ISPs ACMA Has Formally Warned”
Never heard of any of them.
Wow a list of companies nobody has ever heard of except maybe AusBBS
Seriously considering Spintel (they have some pretty good byo plans), alas, now they shall not be getting my coin 🙁
I’m with Spintel and have been for about 8 months and I haven’t had any problems and their deal for a home phone and 40gb ADSL for $40 a month is a really good deal.
Smelstra are obviously feeding their monkeys in the back orifices sufficient peanuts to ensure all necessary and relevant documentation is lodged on time and in accordance to ACMA requirements!
The only one on there ive even head of is Lebara and that was forever ago.
I’ve used Lebara in the past. Not surprised at their nomination.
Interesting – one of them is a Fibre optic ISP servicing ONE SUBURB (Wentworth Point) only.
His FAQ includes this line “Fibre optic cables on the other hand are desgined to transfer much higher volumes of data [than ADSL]” – but all of his plans cap speeds at below the current ADSL maximum of 24mbps, with the $50/month cheapest one offering 1/10th the data usage my TPG plan does and just over 1/5 the maximum theoretical ADSL2+ speed (and 1/3 the maximum speed I’ve actually seen my link providing) – for the same price.
I can see why he’s stuck with one clueless rich people suburb.
I am currently with SpinTel… have not had a problem with them but I have an unlimited data plan so there are never any additional charges for going over.
Currently with Yatango and thinking of changing providers simply by how they charge for their data.
On a Pay As You Go plan, they charge per MB, but you’re charged for the full MB at the START of a connection (yes, even if you only use 10KB of data, they still charge you for the full MB). They could effectively charge you for 1GB of data, even if you only use, say, 10MB (but spread out over 100 10KB connections).
Can someone tell me if charges are made in a similar way with other mobile providers (for PAYG data)?
Any news on Intelico (on the list)..they rang me today saying they can provide ADSL2 when I have been denied by Telstra ( via iinet and iprimus) a connection saying the line isn’t good enough. They have all my info and history as well as my phone number and my email and they insist they can give me ADSL2 … after I went through at great lengths why I cant get it . Can anyone waylay me fears, is it possible or are they looking to basically soft scam me ( couldn’t think of a better term)