ACCAN, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, has released its report entitled "Can You Hear Me?", on the customer service provided by 10 telco providers, with its media release headlined "disappointing report card on telco customer service", as iTWire has covered this morning in a must-read report here.

ACCAN's report will be made available to the public via its website at 9am today, 23 July.

Clearly being one of the parties to have received an advance copy of the report well before the media and the public is John Stanton, the chief executive of telco industry lobby group Communications Alliance, who has already said: "We are disappointed that ACCAN has chosen to selectively present the results of this research."

Stanton continued: “For example, the survey shows that only 18% of customers are negative about their experience with their provider – meaning that the vast majority are either positive or neutral.

“ACCAN’s media release also neglects to mention that 58% of customers were able to have their issues resolved as a result of their first contact with their service provider – and that most consumers said the service they received from their telco provider was in line with their expectations.

“We have sought further information from ACCAN as to how the survey respondents were sourced and in regard to some of the calculation methods used in the research.

“Customer service is extremely important in the telco sphere, as in all industries. Recent strengthening of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code — now in circulation for public comment — will further improve the situation for telecommunications consumers.

“We have seen more recent improvements in complaint volumes to the industry ombudsman and in customer satisfaction research that will be published soon,” Stanton concluded.