Category Archives: Criticising the Code

TCP Code: Parliament likely to open the door to amendment

Posted on 17 June 2013 by Peter Moon

Last Thursday, the Senate’s Environment and Communications Legislation Committee gave a green light to the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Consumer Protection) Bill 2013 (TLACP Bill) that was introduced into Parliament back in March. The TLACP Bill would tweak the Do Not … Continue reading →

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Why the TCP Code went too far

Posted on 26 April 2013 by Peter Moon

Telcoinabox CEO Damian Kay last week denounced the TCP Code as treating the public like idiots and imposing an unnecessary compliance burden on smaller resellers. He’s wrong on the first count (the code does vital work in protecting consumers against … Continue reading →

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Compliance Attestation: Cross-referencing mistake solved

Posted on 7 March 2013 by Peter Moon

A cross-referencing mistake in the 2012 Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code has confused some readers about what is required in a Compliance Attestation under the Code.  Let’s clear up the confusion. According to the definitions section of the Code: Compliance Attestation … Continue reading →

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Telco Plan Pricing: Ruslan Kogan highlights missed opportunity

Posted on 16 December 2012 by Peter Moon

It took entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan to make a key point about telco plan pricing – a point that the new TCP Code doesn’t pick up on. Fifty dollars does not equal $500, and it’s inherently confusing to base pricing and … Continue reading →

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Unit pricing: Optus warned it wouldn’t be easy

Posted on 6 December 2012 by Peter Moon

A year before the 2012 Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code was launched, Optus warned that unit pricing was only suitable for ‘basic, simple products’ and that unit pricing fans needed to ‘be careful what you wish for’. It turns out that … Continue reading →

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TCP Code Unit Pricing: Will the evidence validate it?

Posted on 19 November 2012 by Peter Moon

New research into unit pricing in Australia, in the grocery sector, throws up some intriguing findings.  And they underscore the challenges that TCP Code unit pricing for telco products faces:  Will it make a difference?  Can it make a difference?  … Continue reading →

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Unit Pricing: Peter Moon comments in the AFR

Posted on 31 October 2012 by Peter Moon

With the arrival of unit pricing requirements, TCPCode.com.au editor Peter Moon has written about them in his weekly Hands On technology column in the Australian Financial Review.

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Unit Pricing: another curly query

Posted on 22 October 2012 by Peter Moon

Some things are simple if you say them fast, like: “When you advertise a post-paid internet plan with included download allowance, you must include the cost of downloading 1MB of data under that plan.” It’s easy enough for a shaped … Continue reading →

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Typo solves Code mystery

Posted on 2 October 2012 by Peter Moon

Clause 5.2.6 of the TCP Code is about billing information a telco must give customers on request.  But many readers can’t actually make sense of the wording. Neither could we, until we figured out where the typo is.

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Small business loses unfair contract terms protection

Posted on 27 September 2012 by Peter Moon

Mostly, the 2012 TCP Code offers stronger customer protections than its 2007 predecessor. One notable exception is the rules against unfair terms in telco contracts.  In the old Code, they applied in favour of both personal/residential customers and small business … Continue reading →

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