Consumer complaints about mobile service lodged with Australia’s Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman fell in the second quarter, with Vodafone Australia registering the lowest level of grievances among the top three operators.

Complaints per 10,000 services in operation (SIO) for Vodafone dropped to 2.8 compared with 3.5 in Q2 2020. The number for Optus fell from 6.1 to 3.9 and Telstra from 8.6 to 7.1.

In a report, the Communications Alliance noted a “sustained decrease” in complaints for 12 service providers in the last quarter.

For all providers (MNOs, MVNOs, fixed-line operators and ISPs) the alliance found there were 5.3 complaints per 10,000 SIO, down from 6.9, with all participants achieving decreased complaint rates.

Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton commented: “It is very encouraging that the industry continues to improve customer service and drive down complaint volumes in a pandemic environment where networks and the customers who rely on them are having to cope with unusual stresses.”

In a separate release, Ana Bordeianu, group executive of Customer Operations and Shared Services at TPG Telecom (Vodafone is its mobile brand) stated that before its merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia, “we said we would provide stronger competition in the market, and an ability for greater innovation, that would see customers better off and these figures reflect that”.