Vocus fined, Vodafone warned as ComCom cracks down

False invoices land telcos in hot water with regulator

Three Vocus subsidiaries: CallPlus, Flip and Orcon have been fined $121,500 for sending false invoices to customers.

The companies pleaded guilty and were convicted on 13 charges. The billing took place between 2012 and 2018. The companies terms and conditions said charges would stop an month after a customer ended a contract.

In nearly 6000 cases the company sent a final invoice including charges that went beyond that time. Auckland District Court Judge Glubb said the behaviour was "not inadvertent but nor was it deliberate. Rather, it was a failure to implement and then ensure proper processes were operating. This was highly careless”.

Customers have right to accurate billing

Commerce Commission Chair Anna Rawlings says, customers have the right to expect that businesses will invoice them accurately.

It has been a busy week for the Commerce Commission which also warned Vodafone about potentially misleading claims in a loyalty discount promotion.

This comes after the company sent emails to customers who were nearing the end of broadband contracts. The emails offered a $10 per month discount if they renewed their contract for a further 12 month.

Misleading

The Commission says the offer was likely to mislead customers because it created the impression the discount would be off the price they were currently paying.

In face, the discount was taken off Vodafone’s standard pricing plans at the time. Which meant that customers who renewed contracts would lose their existing discounts. In some cases, this meant customers may have ended up paying more each month than they would have if they had rolled over their previous contract.

Rawlings says in the Commission’s view Vodafone’s conduct likely breached the Fair Trading Act. “All businesses that offer discounts and promotions need to be paying close attention to their systems and processes to ensure customers are charged the correct amount or receive the agreed benefit."

Chorus says network ready for widespread telework

Business does not have to slam to a halt if the coronavirus intensifies. Chorus says its fibre network is ready to take up the strain if industry needs employees to work from home. Andrew Carroll, GM Customer and Network Operations says the company is well set up to support business through a potential crisis.

MWC canned on coronavirus fears

This year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has been cancelled after mass cancellations from exhibitors worried about the coronavirus. GSMA, the organising body pulled the plug on Wednesday, two weeks before the event was due to begin. Before GSMA acted big names such as Cisco, Nokia, Vodafone group and Facebook all dropped out.

Samsung lands Galaxy S20 5G phone with 108MP camera

Samsung’s Galaxy S20 was one of the worst kept secrets in the phone history. By the time of the official launch everyone interested in the company’s hardware knew the $2200 top model Galaxy S20 has a main camera can capture 108 megapixels. It can also zoom 100 times. The phone is also one of the first to work with 5G mobile networks.

GlobalData: fibre to fuel fixed services revenue growth

Research company GlobalData says fixed line telecommunications services revenue will grow 0.8 percent annually from 2019 to 2024. Fibre service revenue will grow 2 percent a year over the same period. The fibre growth will offset the 1.2 percent annual decline in fixed line voice services.

GlobalData analyst Deepa Dhingra, says: “Spark will lead the fixed voice segment in 2019 supported by its strong foothold in the circuit-switched segment.

"Moreover, Spark will also top the fixed broadband segment, driven by its continued focus on offering value added services such as access to OTT services to retain its leading position in the fixed broadband segment.”