Dr Mike Freelander would not have been the least bit surprised when it was revealed that over the past financial year more Campbelltown residents had complained about the NBN than anywhere else in Australia.
Just a couple of weeks ago in a profile piece in the South West Voice the Federal Member for Macarthur warned that his people in the electorate office were fielding a substantial number of concerns about the rollout of the National Broadband Network.
Yesterday the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman confirmed what Mr Freelander and his electorate office staff already know: some of the people of Campbelltown are getting a dud deal from the NBN.
According to the Ombudsman’s report, Campbelltown, with 769 complaints, topped NSW and the nation.
Not too far away was neighbouring Liverpool, a little further down the chart.
As for NBN, it would seem that the bigger the rollout, the more the complaints roll in.
Not that Dr Freelander was feeling sorry for the NBN or the Turnbull Government.
“Local residents in Macarthur have spoken,’’ Dr Freelander said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“People are fed up.[/social_quote]
“They want answers and they want solutions.
“Above all, they just want their broadband to work,’’ he said.
The Ombudsman said the most significant issues consumers raised in their complaints about NBN services in 2015-16 were:
“Faults: this category includes slow data speeds, unusable services and drop outs. We recorded 7,480 fault issues for NBN services, which made up 38.5 per cent of all the internet and landline issues we recorded in 2015-16. Fault issues for NBN services increased 147.8 per cent compared to last year.
“Connections: this category includes connection delays and missed appointments. We recorded 7,948 connection issues for NBN services, which made up 20.4 per cent of all internet and landline connection issues we recorded this year. Connection issues for NBN services increased 63.2 per cent compared to 2014-15,’’ the Ombudsman said.
Dr Freelander’s Labor colleague and the opposition’s communications spokesperson Michelle Rowland joined the member for Macarthur in slamming the government over the NBN.
“In April, the Turnbull Government declared 2017 would be the year of the customer. Well, consider today the most brutal of reality checks,’’ Ms Rowland said.
“What’s clear is that Turnbull’s second rate NBN is unravelling, and complaints are becoming the new consumer standard under the Liberals’ watch.
“The Prime Minister can no longer pretend the deteriorating NBN situation is ‘in hand.’
“This shows just how out of touch Turnbull and the Liberals really are.
“Labor is calling for the TIO to be given expanded powers in order to manage this burgeoning consumer crisis.
“It is high-time, the Government acts to fix this mess.’’
