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Bogus NBN salespeople on the prowl in Tasmania

Consumer action group warns of salespeople posing as representatives from major telcos to offer NBN services.

Consumer action group, Digital Tasmania, has issued a warning on a possible door-to-door scam involving the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Tasmania.

Digital Tasmania has received reports on an incident regarding a salesperson purporting to be working for a major telco and offering up NBN services. The incident occurred in a location where the NBN is not due to be rolled out for some time.

The salesperson implied his company is the only one offering NBN services and made incorrect claims about the speed differences between ADSL and the fibre-based NBN.

Digital Tasmania spokesperson, Andrew Connor, said this shouldn’t deter consumers from taking on the NBN but should, as a rule of thumb, be careful when considering signing long-term contracts for telco services.

When encountering offers from door-to-door salespeople, consumers should ask for details in writing, don’t pay for anything upfront and check with Consumer Affairs in Tasmania and inform Digital Tasmania if they think it’s a scam.

Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, supported Digital Tasmania’s warning.

"There are a number of reputable retail service providers (RSPs) offering commercial services over the NBN in Tasmania, such as iiNet, Internode, Exetel, and iPrimus; and Telstra are continuing with its pilot program,” he said in a statement. “As the rollout progresses more and more RSPs will start to provide services over the NBN in Tasmania, so people should look carefully at all offers and keep their options open as the NBN approaches in an increasingly competitive environment."

NBN Co will be undertaking a public campaign to inform consumers to keep them posted on the NBN rollout timeframes.

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

More about: Andrew, etwork, iiNet, Internode, iPrimus, Primus, Telstra

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Tags: Digital Tasmania, Exetel, iinet, internode, iprimus, National Broadband Network (NBN), Senator Stephen Conroy, Telstra
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