Test yourself: Does a telco or ISP have to undertake a customer credit assessment ?
With tougher times upon us, credit management and credit obligations should be at the forefront of every telco and ISP’s mind. So does a telco or ISP have to undertake a customer credit assessment ?
Hint - the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code (C628:2007) (‘TCP Code’) has the answer.
Funnytel introduces knackered DSL
Been a good week at Funnytel. Finally worked out why the telemarketing invoices didn’t balance.
Some of CurryCall’s accounting systems were working in rupees and the rest in US bucks, and when they consolidated the conversion module swapped each of ‘em to the other.
It was a train wreck. You gotta laugh.
Test yourself: Who is a Consumer and what is a Consumer Contract ?
One of our recent posts raised an interesting question which many ISPs and telcos seem to overlook; Who is a ‘Consumer’ under the CommsAlliance Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code 628:2007 (the “TCP Code”) ?
The answer has some pretty serious consequences.
When the word ‘Consumer’ is used, one usually thinks mum, dad and the kids, right ? Well, its potentially more like mum, dad, the kids, the local milk bar operator, the local accountant, the local builder and the local solicitor, just to name a few under the TCP Code. So this puts a heap of contracts for telecommunications services into the contracts with ‘Consumers’ pile.
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TIO: A level playing field ?
With the economy stalling, some customers are turning to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) to escape their contract obligations to telcos and ISPs. Against that pressure, the TIO needs care to remain the independent dispute resolution organisation its charter requires.
Obviously in many situations the TIO does a great job at resolving disputes in a fair and equitable manner.
We have recently seen a spike in the number of telco and ISP clients seeking advice on TIO disputes. Sure, they are often to blame for poor communication and poor account management (which in our view is symptomatic amongst many industry players) but we also see disputes that are manufactured by customers attempting to avoid contract obligations.
Sometimes customers are just plain dishonest.
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ACMA seeks input on DNCR Best Practice Guidelines
ACMA is seeking public comment on proposed DNCR Act Best Practice Guidelines for complying with the Do Not Call Register Act 2006.
We’ve previously poked ACMA’s eye about keeping its thoughts to itself too much, so it’s great to see a move towards a thorough, straight-talking booklet that offers detailed guidance on the regulator’s experience and how it sees things.
“The draft guidelines have been drawn from consultation with telemarketers who have implemented thorough and effective compliance systems, as well as experience gained through ACMA investigations into non-compliance. Put simply, ACMA has looked to industry for what does work, and has observed through its investigations what doesn’t work.”
We’ll certainly be reviewing the draft carefully and making a few suggestions.
Comments and queries can be directed to robert(dot)urquhart(at)acma(dot)gov(dot)au. Close date for comments is Friday 13 February 2009.
This Week at Funnytel, with Chad Blake
Chad Blake - Manager (Legal Affairs & Hospitality) at Funnytel
Welcome to my new weekly post on life at Funnytel. It’s great to be part of the CSP Central team, even if the other folks here are a bit OTT when it comes to legalities.
If you don’t know much about Funnytel, check out the cool intro piece the guys did.
I’ve already had some reader questions about Funnytel, which is great. Tang from Singapore asks why Funnytel surrendered its carrier licence this week.
Funny story, that.
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Another amigo says adios to Telstra
Telstra COO Greg Winn, one of Sol Trujillo’s famous amigos, is hitting the trail and heading back to Arizona.
The departure was announced on Telstra’s corporate website this morning and follows the repatriation of fellow amigo and former Telstra public relations chief Phil Burgess, for personal reasons, last August.
Widely respected for steering the business through important IT transformations, Winn is one of the few Telstra execs on mega-salaries who may prove worth it in the long run.
Interestingly, he won’t be replaced:
Mr Winn’s position as COO will not be filled. Instead, most of his direct reports will report to Mr Trujillo.
While many are commenting that it’s odd for the post not to be re-filled, we think the reason is obvious. It would probably take several months for Trujillo to locate and lock in his perfect replacement. And if Trujillo himself wasn’t to remain at Telstra for many more months, would his successor be all that pleased to inherit the last amigo’s idea of the perfect COO ?
CSP Central welcomes Chad Blake to expert team
We’re delighted to announce the latest member of CSP Central’s team of industry experts. He’s Chad Blake, Manager (Legal Affairs & Hospitality) at Funnytel, Australia’s new force in telecommunications.
Each Friday, Chad will post his diary notes of the week at Funnytel in his imaginatively titled column ‘This week at Funnytel’.
If you don’t know Funnytel, you will soon. This company is set to break records. We asked Chad a few key questions about the business …
Telstra predicts monopoly in the skies
ACMA today amended the Mobile Phone Jammer Prohibition in a step towards in-flight mobile phone services in Australian airspace.
The Prohibition basically outlaws selling, using or possessing mobile phone jamming equipment. Today’s amendment creates an exception for devices that will lock mobiles on aircraft out of the standard GSM range and force them to use a transmission relay service installed in the plane.
Telstra agrees that in-flight calls would be a good thing, but reckons the new law does little but create a service monopoly for the operators of Cellular RF Management Units (CRFMUs) that force handsets to roam onto mini-mobile phone cells in the skies, and risks waves of call drop outs on the ground as aircraft fly over terrestrial GSM towers.
Dodo’s doh! doh! liability limitation
How simple can Parliament make it ? In certain cases, a service provider cannot limit its liability in any way. Not at all. Zip. Zero. Zilch.
Yet time and again, CSPs pretend (the polite legal word is ‘purport’) to limit liability when they can’t.
Take Dodo’s current standard contract, for instance …