081/05
30 June 2005

ACA quarterly telecommunications performance report

Strong performance in fault repairs shows that overall telecommunications performance is improving according to a report released today by the Australian Communications Authority (ACA), the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan said today.

The ACA’s Telecommunications Performance Monitoring Bulletin for the March 2005 quarter reports on the performance of Telstra, Optus, AAPT and Primus in complying with Australian Government regulations covering fixed phone services, in particular, for fault repair and service connection.

“Historically, the March Quarter is the worst quarter for industry performance due to the impact of the wet season in the northern parts of Australia,” Senator Coonan said.

“So I am pleased that Telstra’s performance in this quarter is strong. However, the Government recognises that seasonal factors influence quarterly figures and so we are more interested in the trend in Telstra’s performance over time.

“Fault repair performance continued to be high in this quarter, with service providers completing more than 90 per cent of fault repairs within the regulated timeframes—which is particularly positive given the seasonal wet weather experienced during the quarter.”

Across the board, Telstra’s performance was in line with, or above the 2004 March quarter.

Telstra, Optus and AAPT continue to achieve performance levels above 90 per cent for connection of telephone services for residential and small business customers, within specified regulatory timeframes. Primus, however, while connecting 99.7 per cent of in-place services within the timeframes, managed only 89 per cent compliance for total new connections.

The reliability of Telstra’s fixed phone network is closely monitored by the ACA under the Government’s Network Reliability Framework (NRF). The bulletin shows that on average, very few services experienced a fault, with 99.07 per cent of services remaining fault free in April 2005.

“The Government’s consumer safeguards, including the NRF and CSG, are important for consumers and will remain in place regardless of any future change in the ownership of Telstra,” Senator Coonan said.

The Government expects Telstra to continually strive to improve its performance and to proactively address signs of performance decline.

The March 2005 quarter bulletin is available on the ACA’s website: www.aca.gov.au