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☆ Australia's competition watchdog rejects Telstra-TPG network sharing deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Wednesday rejected TPG Telecom's (TPG.AX) network sharing agreement with Telstra Corp (TLS.AX), saying the deal would significantly weaken competition in the country. 2 internet service provider - said it was "disappointed" with the Australian competition regulator's decision and is preparing an application for a review of the decision. In February, the companies signed a regional multi-operator core network agreement under which Telstra, the country's largest telecoms operator, would gain access to TPG's 4G and 5G spectrums. The deal was expected to deliver between A$1.6 bln ($1.07 bln) and A$1.8 billion of revenue to Telstra over the initial 10-year term. Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australian court dismisses suit against Google over personal data use
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator said on Friday its lawsuit against Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google that alleged consumers were misled about expanded use of personal data for targeted advertising had been dismissed by a court. The proceedings, initiated by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission in July 2020, alleged Google did not explicitly take consent from users about a change made in 2016 that combined personal information in Google accounts with activity on non-Google sites that use its technology to display advertisements. The Federal Court, however, found that the notification which allowed users to accept policy changes was not misleading since Google "only implemented the steps with their (users') informed consent", the regulator said. "The court also noted that Google did not reduce account holders' rights under the privacy policy." Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia fines Uber $14 mln for misleading on fares and cancellation fees
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Dec 7 (Reuters) - An Australian court fined Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) A$21 million ($14 million) on Wednesday for threatening cancellation fees it never charged and overstating fare estimates on some rides. The evidence supplied suggested less than 0.5% of Uber customers had gone ahead with a trip due to concern about cancellation fees. The UberTaxi algorithm overshot the fare estimate 89% of the time, but less than 1% of total Uber rides used that service, the judge said. The judge had made clear that the lower penalty "should not be understood as any reduction in the court's resolve to impose penalties appropriate to ... deterring contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law", Cass-Gottlieb added. ($1 = 1.4945 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Bradley Perrett, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia sues Telstra for not informing customers of downgrade in internet speed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Australian competition regulator on Tuesday took the country's top telecom firm Telstra Corp (TLS.AX) to court for failing to inform some customers about downgrading the upload speed of its broadband plan. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) initiated the lawsuit in the Federal Court, alleging it downgraded broadband upload speed for nearly 9,000 residential customers in October and November 2020 without informing them or lowering its charges. The regulator alleged that the affected customers had opted for Telstra's cheaper broadband offering, Belong, between May 2017 and October 2020. While around 2,500 customers were remediated with a one-off A$90 credit after Telstra acknowledged the error in early-2021, it is yet to inform more than 6,300 customers of the downgrade to their maximum upload speed, the ACCC alleged. Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Uttaresh.VOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australian telecom firms fined $22.1 mln for false internet speed claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Three Australian telecom firms have been ordered by a court to pay a collective A$33.5 million ($22.08 million) in penalties for making misleading claims about speeds of some NBN internet plans, the country's competition regulator said on Friday. The Australian Federal Court has ordered Telstra (TLS.AX) to pay A$15 million, a unit of TPG Telecom (TPG.AX) to cough up A$5 million, and imposed a fine of A$13.5 million on Optus, a unit of Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said. All three telcos have admitted in court of making false or misleading statements, the regulator said, claiming nearly 120,000 customers were affected. According to the ACCC, the false or misleading statements were made for at least 12 months in 2019 and possibly extended until 2020, related to their 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) or 100Mbps fibre to the node plans. ($1 = 1.5175 Australian dollars)Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Nov 10 (Reuters) - Origin Energy Ltd (ORG.AX), Australia's no.2 power producer and energy retailer, backed an A$18.4 billion ($11.8 billion) non-binding buyout offer from a consortium led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management, the companies said on Thursday. The deal sent Origin's share price soaring nearly 40% in early trade to A$8.14. Origin opened its books to the consortium after it raised its offer to A$9 per share in cash, a near 55% premium to Origin's last close of A$5.81. The bid from Brookfield comes after it was rebuffed earlier this year when it led a $3.5 billion takeover offer for Australia's top power producer, AGL Energy (AGL.AX). Under the indicative proposal submitted on Thursday, Brookfield would acquire Origin's energy markets business, while MidOcean Energy, the other consortium partner, would take control of Origin's integrated gas business, including its 27.5% stake in Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG).

☆ Australian watchdog to take Dell to court for alleged misleading cost claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator said on Friday it would take the local unit of U.S. computer firm Dell Technologies Inc (DELL.N) to court for allegedly misleading people about the cost of buying add-on monitors. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said between August 2019 to Dec. 16, 2021, Dell Australia allegedly made false or misleading representations on its website and the potential savings a customer got when an additional monitor was purchased with a computer. In an emailed statement, Dell said the issue affected about 2,100 customers due to an error in its pricing processes which led to incorrect information being displayed on its website about the pricing and savings associated with certain monitors. The company added that it was actively working to update its systems to prevent the error from re-occurring. Reporting by Jaskiran Singh and Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Qantas 'disappointed' at regulator delaying Alliance Aviation deal verdict
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX) on Friday "expressed disappointment" at the country's competition regulator delaying its decision on the carrier's $394 million buy of Alliance Aviation Services (AQZ.AX). In May, Qantas said it was buying the remaining 80% stake in charter flights operator Alliance Aviation Services for A$610.8 million ($394.03 million). read moreAlliance Aviation's charter alliance agreement with Virgin Australia also hangs in the balance, with the ACCC proposing to deny approval for the firms to extend their agreement. If Qantas succeeds in buying Alliance Aviation, the charter alliance deal extension is even less likely to go through. Alliance Aviation's shares last traded at A$3.23, a 32% discount to Qantas' offer price of A$4.75.

☆ Fitbit sued in Australia for misleading consumers on faulty devices
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 24 (Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator has begun court proceedings against Fitbit LLC for allegedly making false or misleading claims to consumers about their guarantee rights on faulty devices, it said on Monday. "All consumers have... automatic consumer guarantee rights that cannot be excluded, restricted or modified. The consumer guarantee rights exist in addition to any warranties offered by manufacturers," said ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb. Additionally, Fitbit told consumers that once they received a replacement device for an originally faulty product, they were not entitled to a second replacement if Fitbit's two-year 'limited warranty period' for the original device had expired, ACCC alleged. The ACCC, which is seeking penalties and injunctions, said their case includes 58 examples of consumers who were allegedly misled by Fitbit when they complained about faulty devices.

☆ Two Australian regulators open investigations into Optus after data breach
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Two Australian regulators said on Tuesday they have opened investigations into Optus, the country's No. 2 telecoms provider, after a breach of its systems resulted in the theft of personal data from up to 10 million accounts. The agency added that it finds there was a breach of Australian privacy law, it can seek civil penalties of up to A$2.2 million ($1.4 million) per contravention. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb told a parliamentary hearing the regulator was receiving 600 calls a day from people concerned about the Optus breach, although few had been scammed as a result. ($1 = 1.5881 Australian dollars)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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