TPG plans discussions with ACCC over FTTN, FTTB NBN speeds

Some ISPs have said they’re planning to compensate customers for paying for unachievable speeds

A spokesperson for TPG — whose subsidiaries include iiNet and Internet — says the company has taken note of the recent undertaking made by Telstra to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to compensate tens of thousands of customers with NBN connections.

Telstra has said that some of the customers it sold fibre to the building (FTTB) and fibre to the node (FTTN) NBN services to had connections that were not capable of achieving the maximum speeds subscribers were paying for.

Unlike fibre to the premises (FTTP) connections, FTTB and FTTN services can have variable maximum theoretical speeds.

ACCC chairperson Rod Sims said yesterday that it was “not just a Telstra problem” but an “an industry problem where consumers are often not getting the speeds they are paying for.”

“We will continue to investigate other retail service providers selling broadband plans over the NBN and take enforcement action where appropriate,” Sims said.

“As we’ve said previously, we expect [retail service providers] to provide consumers with accurate information up front about the internet speeds they can expect to receive, and then deliver on those promises.”

The ACCC has threatened to take court action against telcos for their marketing of broadband speeds.

“Some months back TPG companies wrote to FTTB/N customers and invited them to switch plans if they were dissatisfied with their connection speeds,” a TPG spokesperson told Computerworld

At around the same time, TPG and its subsidiaries companies changed their marketing of FTTB and FTTN services, the spokesperson said.

“We therefore need to consider the views of the ACCC in light of our particular facts before taking a position on the subject,” the spokesperson said.

“We intend to do that when we have discussions with the ACCC in the coming days.”

Optus and Vocus, whose brands include Dodo and iPrimus, have indicated they may have to compensate customers.

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Tags national broadband networkNational Broadband Network (NBN)TPGAustralian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

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