15 Australian Telcos face fines for not meeting their obligations under the Telecommunications Integrated Public Number Database Scheme 2017.
The recent spate of bushfires on Australia’s East Coast has shone a light on a number of Telcos who are not meeting their obligations under the Telecommunications Integrated Public Number Database Scheme 2017.
ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said:
“The IPND is used by emergency services across Australia, including for the Emergency Alert system that keeps people informed in a crisis,”
“The Emergency Alert system has been used extensively by emergency services over recent months to send a large number of SMS and make phones calls during the recent bushfires.
Under the Act, telcos have to provide contact numbers and customer details to the database for emergency services. 15 Australian Telcos were issued warnings by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ARN 2020) (compared to 11 Telcos issued with warnings in 2019). Five of these companies were found to have cases of non-compliance that were significant enough to require independent audits (ARN 2020).
Telcos that fail to act on ACMA directions face fines of up to $10 million. Even if no fine is issued, businesses can expect to receive notices to comply with ACMA, which can lead to significant business disruption (IT News 2016).
ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin was quick to point out that companies who fail to meet their compliance and reporting obligations will be targeted by the ACMA.
“While we’re not aware of any specific harm caused as a result of these breaches, it’s important that all telcos meet their obligations to provide accurate and timely information to the IPND.”
“Last year we took strong enforcement action for similar breaches across the major players in the industry. It is simply unacceptable for telcos to not comply with these rules,”
Emersion features comprehensive IPND functionality that is designed to help telcos and MSPs meet their obligations under the act. Please contact us to find out more information about our IPND functionality.