Consumer likes and dislikes with phone and broadband service

25 June 2019

Commission wants to hear consumer likes and dislikes with phone and broadband services

The Commerce Commission wants to hear what New Zealanders like and dislike about their phone and broadband experience.

It comes after Parliament made changes that direct the Commission to collect and report on the quality of service consumers receive from their telco providers.

“We want to know what New Zealanders like about their phone and broadband and about the things that frustrate them. We also want to know what information is useful to help them make choices about what providers and services they sign up to,” Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Stephen Gale said.

“We’re calling for consumers to share their thoughts via a couple of online questions. We’ve also released a summary paper which includes examples of what we think could be helpful for consumers when choosing their phone and broadband services.

“We know price isn’t the only thing New Zealanders care about and our new powers will help us highlight the quality of service that consumers experience. The aim of this work is to lift the level of service overall by encouraging providers to compete on quality, not just dollars and data.”

Following feedback, the Commission will hold workshops with industry, consumer advocacy groups and interested consumers to help decide the information that it will collect and how it will collect it. It will then seek advice on the best ways to provide that information to consumers.

A summary paper is available here.

Consumers can share their likes and dislikes via this short online form.

Individual submissions can also be emailed to regulation.branch@comcom.govt.nz.

The deadline for feedback is 5pm on 31 July 2019.

Background

Telecommunications (New Regulatory Framework) Amendment Act
The changes to the Telecommunications Act are intended to increase consumer safeguards and provide more regulatory oversight of retail quality standards and dispute resolution processes. The Act enables the establishment of regulatory codes if industry-led codes are inadequate. The Act will also see the Commission periodically review the existing Telecommunications Dispute Resolution service.

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