iiNet rapped for bungled NBN migration

Australia's media watchdog has handed iiNet a dressing down after a customer's NBN migration left them without internet for more than three weeks.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) accused the TPG-owned carrier of leaving the customer "in the dark" and failing to take "reasonable steps" to minimise their phone and internet disruption during move.

iiNet has now been directed to conduct an independent audit of its systems. ACMA warned the telco that failure to do so may result in court proceedings and potential penalties of up to $10 million.

"On this occasion iiNet have let this customer down, and they have fallen short of what consumers should be able to expect from their telco providers," ACMA chair Nerida O'Loughlin said.

"Telcos must ensure customers who experience problems during their move to the NBN can still access a service while those issues are being fixed."

O'Loughlin stated iiNet should have offered the customer an interim service while their internet was being fixed, as per ACMA rules. 

"Once we see the results of the audit we will monitor iiNet's progress to ensure this issue doesn't happen again," she added. 

ACMA introduced new rules in September 2018 after finding a sixth of households moving to the NBN was left without a working connection for more than a week.

The new rules required telcos to 'line test' new services on the network ensuring that lines are working and faults are identified early.

The watchdog also obliged providers to reconnect consumers to their legacy systems while the migration to the NBN takes place.