Telstra has faced ongoing issues with the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND), resulting in the payment of another non-compliance fine exceeding $300,000 to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). In addition to the fine, Telstra has offered a court-enforceable undertaking to conduct an independent review of its “IPND compliance uplift” and provide quarterly IPND data reports to the regulator.
The ACMA revealed that Telstra failed to provide accurate details for “thousands” of customers, extending the carrier’s IPND compliance challenges, which trace back to 2021. In that year, Telstra was fined $2.5 million for not furnishing details for nearly 850,000 silent and unlisted phone numbers to the IPND. In response, Telstra committed to improving IPND compliance and implemented a monitoring arrangement.
Despite these efforts, Telstra identified an additional 19,000 compliance issues since October 2010, which were self-reported to the ACMA in September 2022. These issues included the incorrect listing of 600 silent numbers in directory services. Telstra attributed its silent/unlisted number errors to “misaligned databases.”
ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin emphasized that Telstra must prioritize completing the IPND uplift program and ensure full compliance with the rules.