Sydney, 17 October 2017 - Complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman as a proportion of services in operation (SIO) for report participants fell to 8.3 complaints per 10,000 services for the period July to September 2017.

This compares to a ratio of 9.0 complaints per 10,000 SIO in the previous quarter and is the lowest ratio since October to December 2016.

Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton said: “the industry is dealing with significant disruption that has been difficult for some customers and has generated worrying increases in complaint levels during the past 12 months (following four years of continuous reduction in complaints).”

“We expect this reality to be reflected in the results of the TIO Annual Report when it is released later this week.

“Industry – including service providers and nbn – are working intensely on a range of customer, service and process initiatives to improve the overall consumer experience.

“It is pleasing that these latest Complaints in Context results appear to indicate that these efforts are beginning to bear fruit.”

“Industry acknowledges there is still much work to do, to turn these encouraging signs into a sustained positive trend and is redoubling its effort to achieve that outcome.”

Complaints in Context is a quarterly report published by Communications Alliance with complaints data provided by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. The report for July to September 2017 can be found on the Communications Alliance website. The report was previously published jointly by Communications Alliance and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.