Conciliation body closed 35% of procedures in 2010 with a settlement – procedures involving data services have surged

“The upward trend shown by mobile phone use in recent years is reflected in the statistics of the procedures conducted by our conciliation body. In 2010, of a total of 4,403 procedures submitted, only 17% were allotted to problems in the fixed-line network, whereas 83% had to do with procedures relating to mobile phone use,” Georg Serentschy, Managing Director of RTR’s Telecommunications and Postal Services Division, announced, quoting data from the 2010 activity report of the conciliation body. “It is encouraging that a settlement was reached in 35% of the 4,500 procedures closed in 2010.

Large amounts in dispute in cases involving mobile data services

“A negative trend already seen the year before and expected to continue in 2011 due to the booming use of smart phones is the enormous rise of 30% in procedures involving mobile data services,” Serentschy adds. “These cases often involve large amounts in dispute: In 2010, the average amount in this category was EUR 620, which is expected to rise further in 2011. As information on the data transfer volumes used is usually not provided actively, I urgently recommend choosing an appropriate tariff scheme when signing contracts. At the same time, I advise operators to introduce cost limiting tools or reasonable cost limits in order to enable consumers to react in time.”

RTR’s procedure statistics led by T-Mobile and A1 Telekom

The major share of the procedures submitted in 2010 with the RTR conciliation body, namely 42% or 1,882 cases, involved T-Mobile. With 29% or 1,275 procedures, A1 Telekom Austria ranked second. Yet with Tele2 and UPC, two operators can be mentioned as positive examples, recording a small number of procedures and showing a very high willingness for compromise.
The conciliation body’s 2010 activity report may be viewed on the RTR website by following this link: