Issue No 31: 22 October 2020

Complaints Handling Standard and NBN Consumer Experience Rules Updated

All Retail Service Providers (RSPs) and Carriers should be aware that the ACMA has issued a variation to the Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard 2018.

As of 14 December, the annual spend threshold for small business customers to be covered by the Standard will increase from $20,000 to $40,000. All other changes will come into place on 1 April 2021.

All RSPs and Carriers involved in supplying services over a legacy broadband network or the NBN should be aware that the ACMA has also issued variations to the:

• NBN Continuity of Service Standard (Variation here)
• NBN Service Migration Determination (Variation here)
• NBN Consumer Information Standard (Variation here)

The change to the threshold for small business consumers has also been made for these instruments.

All changes to the Continuity of Service Standard and Service Migration Determination come into effect at 14 December.

For the Consumer Information Standard, the change to the small business threshold comes into effect 14 December. All other changes come into effect 1 April 2021.

The ACMA’s announcement is on their website.

Members are welcome to contact Communications Alliance for further advice.

Improved Emergency Call Location Capability for New Mobile Phones

Communications Alliance has published an updated edition of the rules for new mobile phones, adding another method to help in locating people making an emergency call.

The new publication adds a requirement that a mobile phone support Advanced Mobile Location, or AML. Once implemented, AML will deliver location information from the mobile phone in a message received by emergency service organisations. This new information will become another tool available to police, fire, and ambulance services to respond to requests for emergency assistance.

The revised Standard is Part 1 of the AS/CS S042 series of Standards – it covers the general requirements for connection to an air interface of a telecommunications network. Other parts of the AS/CA S042 series of Standards contain requirements for specific generations of mobile technologies.

The objective of the Standard is to provide the requirements and test methods for phones used with a mobile service or a satellite service however AML is only applicable for terrestrial mobile services.

The new requirement is aligned with the technical specification for AML from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

The Australian Standard is available free of charge from the Communications Alliance website.

Designating Spectrum for Allocation by Spectrum Licences

The Communications Alliance Satellite Services Working Group (SSWG) provided a submission to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications in response to their consultation on designating parts of the spectrum in the 3.4 GHz band for allocation by spectrum licences with respect to specified areas across Australia.

The SSWG supports the proposed approach, bringing attention to the importance of preserving this spectrum for the satellite community and maintaining the current frequency coordination procedures for the earth station protection zones. This creates the necessary degree of certainty for users and assists in looking after the needs of future telemetry, tracking, and control operational stations serving satellite systems and networks for broadcasting and communications services.