Australia has fined its country’s largest telecom company for $12 million, here’s why

Australia’s largest telecommunications company, Telstra, has been hit with an A$18 million (US$11.87 million) fine by the Federal Court for downgrading the internet speed plans of nearly 9,000 customers without notice. The penalty was announced on Friday (October 3) by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the country’s competition watchdog.

According to a report by news agency Reuters, the ACCC found that Telstra migrated 8,897 customers of its low-cost brand, Belong, to a slower service plan during October and November 2020. Moreover, the company is said to have failed to inform these customers that their maximum upload speed had been halved.