Optus in swipe at NBN for service

THE new boss of Optus has taken a thinly veiled swipe at the federal government’s broadband infrastructure monopoly, saying it gets many complaints for passing on inconsistent service levels to consumers.

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, who became chief executive at the height of the pandemic in April, on Monday said telecommunications was an increasingly difficult business, which should be a concern to the federal government given the health crisis highlighted it was a critical service.

The sector had suffered the loss of global roaming revenues with international travel off the table and returns on investment capital were at historic lows, she said.

“There are headwinds facing our sector and structural challenges which, if not addressed, will hold us back,” Ms Bayer Rosmarin said.

“It can at times feel like trying to plant a seed on dry ground. Structural changes are stripping the sector of profitability at a time of shortening technology cycles, all- time-high investment requirements and peak reliance on our services. The current investment climate is not sustainable and risks holding back the future growth of our nation.”

She called for policy changes, starting with “getting the settings right on NBN”, of which Optus is a customer.

Optus, owned by Singapore’s Singtel, has previously complained about NBN Co, submitting to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 2018 that “there is insufficient commercial consequences for NBN Co if it fails to meet service levels”.

“We’re huge supporters of the NBN, but we’re also advocating for change and improvement in the way that we deliver strong customer service consistently,” Ms Bayer Rosmarin said.

“We think that a lot of cost in the industry actually stems from the fact that we don’t always deliver what the customers wants first time and correctly — so we have a large amount of calls, complaints.

“We work in a system that is diminishing profitability, but if we all work together, digitalise some of the NBN services, have stronger SLAs ( service level agreements), we think we could remove a lot of that cost.”

NBN Co said more than 50 retail service providers ( RSPs) would on Tuesday move to a new two- year wholesale broadband agreement, which many of them and the ACCC had helped develop.

“The fourth iteration of the agreement has been designed to provide enhanced customer service commitments with clearer accountabilities between NBN Co and internet retailers, as well as greater price certainty for retailers and value,” the company said.