The ACMA has decided not to remake the Telecommunications (Backup Power and Informed Decisions) Service Provider Determination 2014, which sunsets on 1 October 2024. That Determination required that before entering into certain agreements with a customer, telcos must inform the customer that a FTTP phone service would not operate during a power failure unless a backup power service is supplied. It also required telcos to provide details of a particular NBN Co supplied backup product.
Since May 2024, NBN Co has stopped taking orders for the backup battery unit. In addition, the Telecommunications (NBN Consumer Information) Industry Standard, made in 2018, requires telcos to provide information to customers about the impact of power outages on NBN services at the point of sale, facilitating the objective that customers are informed about likely limitations of particular products, such that customers can make choices, informed by an understanding of the risks to their operation when the power goes out.
