Stirling, Wanneroo and Rockingham residents log highest number of telco complaints in WA

Residents living in Stirling, Wanneroo and Rockingham are becoming increasingly frustrated with their telcos, after logging the highest number of mobile phone and internet complaints in the State. Fresh figures from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman on Thursday revealed West Australians had made 1076 telco complaints between July and September 2025. Of the 1076 complaints — which are down 2.8 per cent since last quarter — 82.2 per cent were made from metropolitan cities, and 17.8 per cent from regional areas. Issues regarding poor mobile coverage and resolution agreed but not met soared by 30.8 and 29.3 per cent respectively, whilst intermittent service or dropout complaints dropped by 30.5 per cent. Stirling recorded 102 grievances — the highest number of complaints in the State — with the primary issues being service and equipment fees, intermittent service or dropouts, and failure to cancel a service. Wanneroo, Rockingham, Swan and Gosnells also recorded major headaches, logging 95, 89, 64 and 52 complaints respectively. It comes just months after the catastrophic Optus outage which left thousands of residents across WA, South Australia and the Northern Territory unable to reach triple-0 for several hours on September 18. The outage was linked to at least four deaths — two in WA — after the telco giant failed to alert emergency services about its technical failures for almost 24 hours. The TIO said the outage sparked a flurry of calls from regional Australians and those living with health conditions, saying they were “worried about their ability to contact emergency services when needed”. Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert said more Aussies were asking for compensation after prolonged outages because the “stress and disruption caused by phone and internet problems is simply too high”. “When people face repeated phone and internet failures, they expect their telco to make it right,” she said. She said service reliability was improving in rural areas, but said mobile complaints were still on the rise. “It’s encouraging to see service reliability improving in regional areas, especially as connectivity becomes more essential,” she said. “Regional Australia deserves reliable service and it is encouraging to see less people contacting my office about their services not working the way they should. “Mobile complaints are still going up. This tells us telcos need to act to restore confidence in mobile services. “People are telling us loudly and clearly, they need to know their mobile services will work when it’s most important, including to contact emergency services.” Mobile service complaints jumped by 5.9 per cent across the nation, with Aussies reporting major delays when activating their service, delays switching telco providers, misleading advice and plans, unreliable service and financial stress. Telstra, Optus and Vodafone recorded the highest number of grievances, logging 5184, 3207 and 1363 complaints respectively. In August a Safety Bay resident and Telstra customer was told to find another provider after complaining about the telco’s service during a 4G outage. “Based on the fault details posted in our system, the issue is expected to be resolved by 11 November, and may take up to 13 weeks to fully address,” Telstra said in a statement. “We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and understand how disruptive this has been to your daily routine. “Given the extended time-frame for resolution, we recommend considering other service providers who may be able to offer a more reliable connection in the meantime. “We understand this is not an easy decision, but ensuring you stay connected, especially to your family and loved ones, is our priority.” The TIO confirmed they had received complaints about service in the area. Ms Gebert said there was an urgent need for an independent complaints body, and said the TIO was ready to step into the role of Communications Ombudsman. “We regularly hear from people locked out of their digital lives and right now, there’s no one with the power to help,” she said. “With the government’s social media ban approaching, the need for a fair and independent complaints body is more urgent than ever.”