The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has announced a reduction in the number of complaints delivered about NBN Co services, with nearly a 33 per cent reduction in complaints about connection or changing provider.
The decline follows a number of targeted efforts to improve the customer experience including:
- Introducing new tools to help better diagnose and understand the cause of faults on the network
- New wholesale discount pricing bundles to help retailers deliver higher speed plans with increased bandwidth
- Pausing the sales of HFC services to allow necessary optimisation works to help improve the quality of the network and reduce faults
- NBN Co and retailers working together to complete installations more efficiently
- Improving the ability to install nbn equipment correctly the first time through better customer communications and in-field training
NBN Co’s own data shows that of the complaints made to the TIO about retail services delivered over the nbn access network in the financial year to 30 June 2018, only five per cent were sent to the company as complaints to resolve.
NBN Co Chief Customer Officer, Brad Whitcomb, said that the results are pleasing.
“The rollout of the nbn access network represents one of the biggest and most complex transformations in Australia’s history. It’s a huge undertaking, so it’s pleasing to see the collaboration between NBN Co and the wider industry to help improve the customer experience is starting to bear fruit,” Mr Whitcomb said.
“Over the past year in particular, we focused our efforts to improve those aspects of the customer experience within our control, keeping the consumer at the forefront of our decisions.
“The outcomes of these efforts can be seen in our latest monthly progress report which shows 94 per cent of installations of nbn equipment in our control was completed right the first time compared with 86 per cent a year earlier.
“In September 2018, 97 per cent of all orders were connected within agreed timeframes with retail service providers, up from 92 per cent this time last year.
“Average bandwidth congestion on the network (excluding Sky Muster satellite) has also decreased significantly to 38 minutes per week per service compared with more than four hours a year ago per week per service, despite some fluctuations during this period.
“We acknowledge there is always more work to be done to drive better experiences for Australians as they transition from the old network to the new network. We remain committed to working with industry to do so.”
Lauren ‘LJ’ Butler is the Assistant Editor of Utility magazine and has been part of the team at Monkey Media since 2018.
After completing a Bachelor of Media, Communications and Professional Writing at the University of Wollongong in 2014, and prior to writing about the utility sector, LJ worked as a Journalist and Sub Editor across the horticulture, hardware, power equipment, construction and accommodation industries with publishers such as Glenvale Publications, Multimedia Publishing and Bean Media Group.
