Key Takeaways
- The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) received 57,592 complaints in 2024-25, with 60% about providers simply not responding or acting too slowly.
- Small business complaints rose 12.8% year-on-year, reversing four quarters of decline.
- The #1 reason businesses escalate to the Ombudsman isn't a technical failure --- it's being ignored by their provider.
- Choosing the right telco isn't about finding the cheapest plan. It's about finding one that answers when you call.
If you run a small business in Australia, there's a good chance your relationship with your telecommunications provider is... complicated.
Maybe it's the 45-minute hold times when something breaks. Maybe it's the ticket that was "escalated" three weeks ago and hasn't moved. Maybe it's the feeling that you're just an account number in a system that was built for enterprise clients or high-volume consumers --- and your business falls somewhere in the gap where nobody seems responsible.
You're not imagining it. The data confirms what thousands of Australian business owners already know: the telco industry has a customer service crisis, and small businesses are bearing the brunt of it.
The Numbers Don't Lie: 57,592 Complaints and Counting
Every year, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) publishes data on how many Australians felt so let down by their provider that they filed a formal complaint. In the 2024-25 financial year, that number reached 57,592 complaints --- a 1.6% increase on the previous year.
But here's the statistic that should worry every small business owner: 34,770 of those complaints --- a staggering 60.4% --- were about providers taking no action or delaying their response. Not billing errors. Not coverage issues. Not technical faults. The single biggest problem was providers simply not doing anything when their customers reached out for help.
Think about that for a moment. The majority of people who escalated to the Ombudsman didn't do so because their phone line went down or they were overcharged. They did it because they asked for help and were met with silence.
Small Businesses Are Getting Hit the Hardest
While the headline numbers are concerning enough, the picture is even more troubling for small businesses specifically.
Approximately 11% of all TIO complaints came from small businesses --- around 6,335 complaints over the year. That might sound like a fraction of the total, but consider this: small business complaints increased by 12.8% during 2024-25, reversing what had been four consecutive quarters of decline.
The trend is accelerating. In the third quarter alone (January to March 2025), 1,767 small business complaints were lodged --- a 6.9% increase on the previous quarter. That was the second consecutive quarter of rising complaints from the small business segment.
TIO Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert put it bluntly: "What we're hearing from small businesses is how serious the impact of persistent mobile and internet problems is on their ability to provide good customer service and operate efficiently. It's impacting people's livelihoods."
When your telco provider ignores you, your customers suffer. Missed calls mean missed revenue. Internet outages mean your payment systems, booking software, and email all grind to a halt. And unlike a large enterprise with a dedicated account manager and redundant systems, a small business has no safety net.
The Escalation Spiral: When Asking for Help Makes Things Worse
Perhaps the most damning statistic in the TIO's data is this: complaints returning to the TIO after a provider failed to resolve them on the first referral increased by 36.9%.
Here's how the process works. A customer lodges a complaint with the TIO. The TIO refers it back to the provider, giving them an opportunity to resolve the issue directly. In theory, this should work. In practice, more than a third more customers are coming back to the TIO saying their provider still hasn't fixed the problem.
The ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) weighed in directly, with member Samantha Yorke stating: "The data shows that some telcos need to do a lot more to address complaints so that customers don't have to escalate the matter to the TIO to have it fixed."
For a small business owner, this escalation spiral is more than frustrating --- it's expensive. Every hour spent chasing a resolution is an hour not spent serving customers, growing revenue, or running your operation. And the longer a telecommunications issue persists, the more damage it does to your reputation with your own customers.
Why Big Telcos Struggle with Small Business Support
Understanding why this happens doesn't excuse it, but it does help explain the pattern.
Large telecommunications companies are built for scale. Their support infrastructure is designed to handle millions of consumer accounts and thousands of enterprise clients. Small businesses sit awkwardly between these two segments. You need more than a consumer plan --- your livelihood depends on uptime and reliability --- but you don't generate enough revenue to warrant the dedicated account management that enterprise clients receive.
The result is predictable. You call the same consumer support line. You navigate the same automated phone tree. You get the same scripted responses from agents who have no context about your business, your history, or the urgency of your situation. When your issue requires escalation, it enters the same queue as every consumer complaint, with no prioritisation for the fact that your business is losing money every minute the problem persists.
This structural problem is exactly why a growing number of Australian small businesses are choosing to work with specialist telecommunications providers instead.
What to Look for in a Telco Provider (Beyond Price)
When small businesses evaluate their telecommunications options, the conversation almost always starts with price. And while competitive pricing matters, the TIO data makes it crystal clear that cost should not be the primary consideration.
Here's what the complaint data tells us actually matters:
1. Responsiveness When Things Go Wrong
The #1 complaint category --- no action or delayed action --- tells you everything you need to know about what businesses value most. When your internet goes down at 10am on a Tuesday, you don't need the cheapest plan. You need someone who answers the phone and starts working on the problem immediately.
Look for a provider that offers direct access to local support staff who understand business telecommunications. Not a chatbot. Not a ticketing system that acknowledges your request and then goes quiet for three days. A real person who can diagnose and resolve issues quickly.
2. Proactive Communication
Many of the complaints to the TIO could have been avoided if the provider had simply communicated. A planned outage with no advance notice. A billing change with no explanation. A service degradation with no acknowledgement. Businesses don't expect perfection --- they expect transparency.
A good provider keeps you informed before, during, and after any service issue. They don't wait for you to discover a problem and call in. They tell you what's happening and what they're doing about it.
3. Business-Grade Infrastructure
Consumer internet and phone services are designed for a fundamentally different use case. Your home can tolerate an hour of downtime while you read a book. Your business can't. Look for providers that offer business-grade internet connectivity with service-level commitments and prioritised fault resolution.
4. Flexibility Without Lock-In
Many small businesses end up trapped in contracts with providers that aren't delivering. Long lock-in periods with hefty exit fees discourage switching, even when the service is substandard. The best business telco providers earn your loyalty through service quality, not contractual obligations.
5. Scalable Solutions That Grow with You
A sole trader's needs are different from a 20-person team's. Your phone system should be able to add lines, extensions, and features as your business grows --- without requiring a complete platform change or a new contract negotiation.
How Ozetel Approaches Small Business Telecommunications Differently
At Ozetel, we've built our entire operation around the principle that small businesses deserve the same quality of service and support that enterprise clients take for granted.
We're an Australian-owned telecommunications provider based in Queensland, and we've been serving businesses since 2004. We're not a reseller, and we're not a white-label front for a larger carrier's consumer support team.
Here's what that means in practice:
You talk to real people. When you call us, you speak to someone who knows telecommunications, knows your account, and has the authority to fix problems. We don't have offshore call centres or multi-level phone trees designed to deflect your call.
We respond quickly. We understand that when your business phones or internet go down, every minute counts. Our support model is built for speed, not ticket deflection. We aim to resolve issues on the first contact, not the third or fourth.
We offer complete business solutions. From 1300 and 1800 numbers for a professional national presence, to hosted phone systems, SIP trunking, NBN business internet, and even AI receptionist services --- we provide everything a modern Australian business needs to communicate effectively, all under one roof with one point of contact.
We're transparent about everything. No hidden fees, no surprise charges, no contract terms buried in fine print. We publish our Critical Information Summaries for every service as required by the ACMA, and we go further by making sure you actually understand what you're signing up for.
The Real Cost of a Bad Telco Provider
It's tempting to focus on the monthly bill when choosing a telecommunications provider. But consider the true cost of poor service:
- Lost calls from customers who can't reach you or get put on hold by a faulty system
- Downtime that stops your team from working, processing payments, or accessing cloud-based tools
- Hours wasted on hold with a support team that can't resolve your issue
- Reputational damage when your customers experience the knock-on effects of your telco problems
- The opportunity cost of spending your time managing your provider relationship instead of growing your business
The TIO data shows that thousands of Australian businesses are paying these hidden costs every year. The cheapest plan on paper can become the most expensive decision you make.
Making the Switch: It's Easier Than You Think
If you're currently locked in a cycle of poor service and unresponsive support, switching providers might feel daunting. Will you lose your number? Will there be downtime? Will the new provider be any better?
The answer is that modern number porting in Australia is straightforward, regulated, and in most cases can be completed with zero downtime. Your existing phone numbers --- whether they're landlines, 1300 numbers, or mobile numbers --- can almost always be transferred to a new provider. And the right provider will manage the entire process for you.
The TIO's own data suggests that the biggest risk isn't switching --- it's staying with a provider that doesn't prioritise your business.
Ready to Experience the Difference?
If you're tired of being ignored by your telco provider, we'd love to show you what business telecommunications should actually feel like.
Talk to the Ozetel team today --- no hold queues, no chatbots, just a real conversation about what your business needs. Or explore our full range of business communication solutions to see how we can help you stay connected, professional, and in control.
