It is widely acknowledged that there have been significant improvements in telecommunications customer service and consumer outcomes in recent years, reflecting outcomes from the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s Reconnecting the Customer (RTC) public inquiry in 2010–11; the development, registration and implementation of a substantially revised Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) Code; and subsequent changes to industry behaviour.

Since the RTC public inquiry and the implementation of a revised TCP Code, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) has undertaken a number of studies to track and test the ongoing effectiveness of the interventions that arose from the RTC inquiry and TCP Code. These have included: monitoring of industry compliance with the revised TCP Code monitoring consumer complaints and complaints-handling outcomes tracking studies of consumer attitudes and behaviours that have assessed the effectiveness and satisfaction with various RTC interventions, including changes to customer service, product information, handling of unexpectedly high bills, and the use of spend management tools and alerts.

To complement these studies, the ACMA undertook a benefits assessment to provide a further perspective on the assessment of the RTC inquiry outcomes, including the TCP Code interventions. This paper reports on the results of that benefits assessment.

A key finding from this benefits assessment is that Australian consumers have benefited in the order of at least $545 million each year since registration of the revised TCP Code in September 2012.

These benefits have been estimated based on the cost impacts on consumers and industry operators of reduced complaints, consumers choosing plans more appropriate for their consumption behaviour, and reductions in unexpectedly high bills.

Much of the consumer benefit identified in this report involves economic transfers from industry to consumers. This is because mitigating the wrong contract problem1 and unexpectedly higher bills has reduced customer spend, which is lost revenue to industry operators.

There are however, a number of likely additional effects beneficial for both consumers and industry that have not been quantified in this report. For example, improved consumer outcomes generally enhance consumer confidence and industry goodwill and promote more business activity. Better quality and timelier product information also helps the market function better and promotes competition, benefiting society more broadly.