Dodo Services Pty Ltd, Primus Telecommunications Pty Limited, and M2 Commander Pty Ltd have undertaken to offer remedies to customers who couldn’t receive the internet speeds they bought because their NBN connection was incapable of delivering it.
Affected customers will be offered options for remediation, including moving to a lower speed plan with a refund or exiting their plan with a refund and no exit fees. 3,384 Dodo customers, 1,912 iPrimus customers, and 565 Commander customers were unable to achieve the speeds they were paying for.
Between 1 October 2015 and 30 June 2017, Dodo, iPrimus and Commander advertised a range of NBN speed plans. For example, iPrimus advertised its highest speed plan as "Download speed: Up to 100Mbps. Upload speed: Up to 40Mbps. 100/40 MBPS is as fast as you can get and will surely feed your need for speed."
"Dodo, iPrimus and Commander have admitted that by offering speed plans that could not be delivered, they likely breached consumer law by engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct and making false or misleading representations," ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.
Dodo, iPrimus and Commander will be contacting affected customers by email or letter by 27 April 2018, outlining the options that customers have.
"Affected customers may prefer to exit their contract with a refund rather than accept a service that does not meet their needs. Dodo, iPrimus and Commander will also be required to tell new customers if they are not getting the maximum speeds advertised to them," Ms Court said.
Acting on misleading claims about internet speeds remains an enforcement priority for the ACCC in 2018.
"The ACCC has now accepted undertakings from eight internet service providers, who have all admitted they likely misled customers about internet speeds. As a result of these undertakings, more than 75,000 affected consumers are being contacted by their internet service provider and offered remedies. New customers will also now be told if they are not getting the maximum internet speeds they were promised," Ms Court said.
The undertakings are available at :
- Dodo Services Pty Ltd
- Primus Telecommunications Pty Limited
- M2 Commander Pty Ltd
Note to editors
Dodo, iPrimus and Commander are all wholly owned subsidiaries of Vocus Group Limited.
This conduct affected Dodo, iPrimus and Commander customers who purchased fibre to the node (FTTN) and fibre to the building NBN plans.
The majority of the customers affected were using FTTN technology:
- 2,436 (70%) Dodo customers on a 100/40 Mbps plan could not receive 100/40 Mbps. Of those 2,436 customers, 1,037 could not receive even the next lowest tier of 50/20 Mbps.
- 904 (70%) iPrimus customers on a 100/40 Mbps plan could not receive 100/40 Mbps. Of those 904 customers, 396 could not receive even the next lowest tier of 50/20 Mbps
- 283 (83%) Commander customers on a 100/40 Mbps plan could not receive 100/40 Mbps. Of those 283 customers, 104 could not receive even the next lowest tier of 50/20 Mbps.
Background
The ACCC has accepted undertakings from Telstra, Optus, TPG, iiNet and Internode for promoting broadband speeds they could not deliver to their customers. Telstra and TPG have already contacted affected customers and offered compensation options. Other affected customers should expect to receive a letter or email from their internet service provider by:
- Optus: 6 April 2018
- iiNet: 27 April 2018
- Internode: 27 April 2018
