Mobile Bill Shock Takes A Dive, Thanks To SMS Alerts

CANBERRA – Mobile phone bill shock still exists – but it is on the downturn Down Under, according to new research published by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.The report says some
27 percent of post-paid mobile phone bill payers received a
higher-than-expected bill in the last 12 months, compared with 33 percent in
2013.

And the sixe of the average overrun – ie, the unexpectedly higher bill,
compared with normal  – has also fallen, down 21 percent on average,

ACMA is tapping into a Spend Management Tools and Alerts Survey 2015, conducted
by Newspoll in February. This tracked mobile phone bill payers’ awareness and
use of “spend management” tools and alerts as well as their
experience of unexpectedly high bills.

The research found consumers are using a range of spend management tools, with
SMS alerts being the most commonly used at 67 percent. Of those who received an
SMS alert, 92 per cent found these useful.

“It is pleasing to see that spend management alerts are improving the
consumer experience,” said ACMA chairman, Chris Chapman.

He noted that “industry has certainly done some heavy lifting to put this
system into place”, but warned some consumer issues still need to be dealt
with.

These include timing of the alerts and how to use them, as well as other tools,
to get the most out of their mobile phone allowance.