Hate Your Phone Company? It’s Probably Your Own Lazy Fault


Aussies like complaining about our mobile phone and internet providers, but we’re not so good at doing anything about it. A survey of 800 consumers by the Australian Communications and Consumer Action Network (ACANN) suggests that we’re highly unlikely to change phone providers, or even to check our usage.

Picture by Susana Fernandez

The standout figure in this survey for me was the fact that 46 per cent of people have been with the same provider for five years or more. There are plenty of things to dislike about our local communications offerings. A random list would include stupidly slow connection times, incomprehensible charging schemes and networks which throttle torrent downloads. However, many of these problems can be solved by switching providers (especially in urban areas; I appreciate regional consumers often have minimal choice). Even if you’re happy with your current choice, it makes sense to check alternative options every so often.

Other interesting findings:

  • Unsurprisingly, we’re less worried about landlines these days. 58 per cent of respondents said that a mobile phone was their main communications service. That figure was much higher for people aged 18-34 (77 per cent).
  • Over half (52 per cent) of those surveyed do not track their data usage. This is not a good strategy to use overseas.

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