ACCC welcomes call drop-out report

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has welcomed the Internet Industry Association report into the Internet call drop-out phenomenon issued today. The ACCC sees the report as an important contribution to the development of the Internet in Australia.

The report recognises that the study has not identified a definitive cause of the drop-out problem. Consequently, the ACCC will continue to investigate any complaints that consumers are being charged for calls to the Internet that return an engaged signal.

To assist with identifying the cause of the problem, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are encouraged to log instances where equipment outages or congestion might result in a busy tone being heard. Customers should also maintain a log of dates and times when dialling their ISP results in an engaged signal, and compare that to their telephone bill.