Agency: Telia's fast internet campaign violates consumer rights

A campaign run by internet provider Telia which automatically upgrades customers to faster and more expensive packages violates consumer rights, according to the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA). The agency has opened an investigation but Telia believes the offer is innovative and straightforward.
Last week, Telia informed customers that starting from late January to mid-February, they would be automatically upgraded to an internet package twice as fast as their current one.
Customers could use the faster package for the first 30 days for the same price as their current package, but after that, they would automatically be charged a new higher rate.
No permission was sought from customers, they were simply informed the change would take place.
If they did not want the new package, customers were told they must contact Telia themselves.
Evelin Neerot, head of Telia's connectivity services department, told ERR this is a new type of offer on the market, where entirely new speeds are introduced and given to customers for a 30-day trial without additional costs.
"During this time, as soon as they receive the notification, they have the opportunity to decline the offer," she said, adding the company aims to make the change as simple as possible for customers.
She also noted that Telia has reduced some prices; for example, the price of a 1-gigabit connection will drop by 25 percent starting in March, and customers with a 300-megabit connection will be upgraded to 400 megabits without a price increase.
Telia, which is owned by Swedish shareholders, earned €63 million in net profit in Estonia in 2023. The company paid a record €80.9 million in dividends to its owners, exceeding its investments by 1.5 times.
When asked why Telia needs to raise prices if investments are financed through loans and profits flow to Sweden, Neerot replied that customers with 100-megabit speeds are being upgraded to 200-megabit speeds. While the price increase is slightly over €3, the value increase is significant.
Elisa leads customers through a PDF maze
Elisa has also introduced a novel approach to customer communication.
A recent notification about price changes from March 1 failed to include details about exactly which services will increase in price or what they will be.
Instead, customers were linked to a webpage containing PDF files. To understand the changes, they would need to compare and contrast new and old documents themselves.
As most people are unlikely to spend hours reviewing the terms, actual changes or price increases will remain a mystery to many.
Mailiis Ploomann, a member of Elisa Eesti's management board, said the company reviews its price lists approximately once a year due to increases in input costs.
"This is an inevitable issue that comes with our industry. We have two main input costs — electricity and people. Wage pressures and the ongoing pressure on electricity prices are the two factors forcing us to raise prices for consumers," Ploomann said.
She also noted that Elisa must account for cybersecurity and that investments to ensure the functioning of services against cyber threats require increasing amounts of money each year.
Ploomann said Elisa informs its whole customer base of the changes. "If a package price increase is also involved, the customer receives a separate notification," she explained.
Prices are rising for many but not all customers, with average increases ranging from €1-2, the board member said.
Elisa will send out notifications over several weeks to ensure customer service can handle the influx of inquiries.
Elisa, originally from Finland, recorded a net profit of €12.5 million in Estonia in 2023.
Telia customers have contacted the TTJA
Oliver Gailan, head of the telecommunications department at the TTJA, said telecommunications services are provided based on contracts, where parties agree on certain terms and prices. Generally not subject to change.
"However, as we know, telecommunications contracts are long-term and can last for years — sometimes even 10 years. Inevitably, there comes a point when the service provider needs to adjust prices, for example, due to rising electricity costs, increased labor expenses, or technological developments, which are particularly common in this field. These are valid reasons for modifying a contract or changing prices," he told Vikerraadio's program Uudis+ on Wednesday.
Speaking about Telia's campaign, Gailan noted that such sales tactics are unexpected and new for the Estonian market. Several consumers have already contacted the agency.
"Consumers are being given the additional obligation to notify the provider if they do not want certain services that were added without being asked," Gailan pointed out.
He stressed the importance of consumers receiving adequate information about changes. While notifying consumers via email is permitted, the notification must be very clear.
"However, it must be acknowledged that many consumers do not read emails from service providers, often assuming they are spam. If one behaves inattentively like this, they might only notice the change when they see a higher bill one or two months later," Gailan said.
The TTJA has initiated proceedings. Gailan said consumers must be notified of changes at least one month in advance. If they disagree with the changes, they have the right to terminate their contract.
"This aspect is currently somewhat questionable because consumers were notified about two weeks in advance. Additionally, the obligation placed on the consumer to take proactive steps to opt out if the package is unsuitable is certainly unexpected and infringes on consumer rights," the TTJA representative noted. "This campaign could definitely be conducted in a more consumer-friendly manner."
Evelin Neerot from Telia stated that they are in communication with the TTJA but pointed out that the new speeds will take effect faster than the new monthly fee, which will only be applied more than 30 days after the notification.
"I believe we have made a very good offer to our customers, allowing them to try significantly faster speeds for free," Neerot said.
She added that the campaign was tested on a smaller group of customers at the end of last year, and almost all of them stayed with the faster and more expensive service.
TTJA not rushing to take a position
When asked whether Telia's campaign is unethical, Gailan replied that ethics can be discussed at length, but a business's goal is to conduct business and sell its services.
"Of course, consumer rights legislation is quite comprehensive. We have several laws that regulate contracts and the telecommunications sector — there are at least three, if not more. I would say that consumer rights are quite well protected, but naturally, certain situations may fall into gray areas. These require closer examination, which our agency is also conducting," he said.
Regarding Elisa's price changes, where consumers found it difficult to determine which service prices were increasing and by how much, the TTJA representative stressed companies must be relatively transparent when raising prices.
"First of all, the information must be sent to the consumer on a durable medium — we consider email to be a durable medium today. It is certainly not acceptable to simply announce new prices on a website for consumers to discover if they happen to visit," said Gailan.
In this case, where the email contained a link to a page with conditions, which in turn led to dozens of PDF file links requiring consumers to compare previous and current terms, Gailan pointed out that good practice — used by many companies — is to highlight the changes directly in the notification email.
He added that since this issue has recently come to light and consumers have contacted them, the TTJA will examine the matter more closely. They also intend to hear the company's perspective to get a complete picture of the situation.
"We will review the situation and see if there's anything that can be corrected. But perhaps there is nothing that needs correcting," Gailan concluded.
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Editor: Karin Koppel, Helen Wright