The EFTM podcast – Samsung’s Latest TVs, Action for Consumers on Telco and your calls!

Samsung’s Latest TVs, Action for Consumers on Telco and your calls!

Podcast: EFTM
Date: 16 June 2026
Host: Trevor Long

[00:00:03] VOICE OVER: The EFTM Podcast. Talkback Technology. Got a question about tech? Trev’s here to help. Not sure what to buy? Ask Trev. Australia’s number one talkback technology podcast.

[00:00:33] VOICE OVER: Join the conversation. Head to eftm.com and click Ask Trev. Helping Australians with tech questions for over 15 years, the EFTM Podcast with Trevor Long.

[00:00:45] VOICE OVER: Real Australians, real questions, every week.

[00:00:50] VOICE OVER: You can text Trev now, thanks to Vodafone, on 0477 657 657.

[00:01:04] Trevor Long: All right, and we’re back in town. Great to be back, great to have your company on the EFTM Podcast. Thank you for listening, thank you for downloading. And, uh, I think we missed a week, didn’t we? Apologies for missing a week, uh, while I was at Cupertino, or Coop as they’re now calling it. One of the Apple staff, um, I rang them while I was in London, they said, uh, I said, I don’t know what time it is in Sydney. They go, I don’t know, I’m in Coop. Cupertino, baby! Um, that’s what we’ll call it from now on, Coop. Anyway, Coopino. And look, I just want to say, um, the people that were on the trip were a bunch of— there was probably 4 or 5 people who’d never been to Apple Park before. And it was— do you know what? It was fun to be the old guy back of a golf buggy being driven from one side of Apple Park to the other because it’s a huge place, uh, and hearing these people just talk about the place like ’cause they’d never been there before. And I’m like, oh my God, the things, the stories I could tell you. It’s just such an amazing place. And I know my position in this industry and I’m grateful to have achieved the position that I have, but I also don’t take for granted any of the opportunities I get. And that doesn’t matter whether that’s going to London with Amazon or San Francisco with Samsung or being able to afford to go to CES with a team or take Stig with me to IFA. Or getting invited to Apple Park. I don’t take it for granted at all. I love every bit of it. And I wish more people could see the things that I get to see. It’s just such an amazing place. So yeah, don’t take that for granted and love visiting there because it’s just architecturally stunning. The landscaping is phenomenal, amazing place. But we are back now grounded by the EFTM office and studio. And as I look at the security cameras and realize I’ve got some TVs to review, folks, there’s like, 2, 3 TVs downstairs. I had a TV delivery just literally in between interviews earlier. There was a 5-minute window and they arrived. It was perfect timing. It was funny because it was a TV from Sony and they were not couriers. They, I think they work for like Sony service, so they also do deliveries. Anyway, one of the guys came in and he’s like, Kogan, ’cause there’s a couple of Kogan TVs down there. One I’ve just reviewed and one I’m about to have on the Today Show for end of financial year. And there’s also a bunch of other products down there from Kogan ’cause I’ve got a Winter Warmers segment. So there’s just a lot, and it was like he was talking down upon the brand. I’m like, dude, I know you work for Sony, but not everyone can afford a Sony, right? Just calm down. Um, so there’s a lot, there’s a lot to cover and a lot to get to over the weeks ahead. We, uh, we’ve probably got a little, about a month now at home before we head away again. Um, and weirdly, that event hasn’t been announced yet, so I really don’t think I can say what it is or where it is, even though it’s widely understood. But anyway, I’m not gonna break anyone’s confidences. But anyway, we’re off again in July, and then should be home for a month before we head to IFA in Berlin. Like, the year is literally just clipping away at a rate of knots, unbelievable. ‘Cause we’ve got Berlin at the end of August. We work on the assumption that Apple’s phone event will be early September, and then I’ve got my family arriving in the US for 3 or 4 weeks of holiday after that. Yeah, there’ll be a bit of a break near the end of the year because there’s no way, um, producer Rob can bank enough content that we can get through that. But, um, so you’ll forgive a month or so of break in September-ish on the EFTM podcast. We, uh, Stephen and I working pretty hard to make sure that we can fulfill the EV podcast and the movie podcast through that time, uh, and we’ll do IFA and Apple iPhone event, Two Blokes Talking Tech, and then I assume we’ll enlist the great help of Val Quinn from Gadget Guide to fill in on Two Blokes Talking Tech for a couple of weeks while I’m away with my family. So there’s a bit going on, and it’s weird to think we’re in June but I’m talking about September, but that’s the life we lead. We’ve got to plan that far ahead with things. It’s amazing how far your diary fills up, and it’s been a long time since I had a day job, as you well know. It’s been 10 years, but I guess your diary filled up just as quick, you know, people wanting meetings, and you— I would go to the Melbourne office and things like that of SBS. So your diary fills up and you get busy, um, but that’s the joy of it. So big show coming up. We’ve got a couple things to talk about today. We’ve got, uh, we’ve got your calls as always, uh, a couple of calls to get through. One of them is a follow-up, but we also— we’re going to talk TVs with Samsung. We’re going to talk about RGB TV technology. We’re going to talk about big screen technology in the Australian market. And I’ve also obtained a good chat with Carol Bennett, the CEO of ACAN, uh, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, uh, because I’ve seen them talking a little bit about like the Triple Zero inquiries and universal mobile obligations and things like that. So I want to understand where they’re at and, you know, understand whether or not the Australian government is ready for the future of mobile technology. Yeah, think satellite, think Triple Zero. I just don’t get the feeling that we’re actually prepared or getting ready for it. Maybe we are, maybe I’m just not aware of it. So we’ll talk to Carol about that. But most importantly, if you have a tech question and you wanna join me at any point, send us a text, 0477 657 657. Send us a text or a WhatsApp message. Producer Rob will get those, we’ll collate them, we’ll get you on the show, and we’ll have a good chat here on the EFTM podcast. Helping Australians with tech questions for over 15 years.

[00:06:54] VOICE OVER: Here’s the EFTM Podcast with Trevor Long.

[00:06:58] Trevor Long: Great to have your company, uh, lovely to hear from you if you get in touch. 0477 657 657. Craig’s on the line. G’day, Craig.

Craig — Phone advice for an elderly father with early dementia

[00:07:05] Craig: G’day, Trevor.

[00:07:06] Trevor Long: Mate, what can I do for you?

[00:07:08] Craig: I’m just looking for some advice and help with my father who’s 88.

[00:07:15] Trevor Long: Yep.

[00:07:16] Craig: Um, he’s struggling with a phone. He obviously needs a phone. Yeah, every phone he’s had, he’s either got frustrated with it, can’t operate it because he’s got early signs of dementia. Sure. Um, his sisters have bought him numerous phones and they’ve been by the wayside. He’s, uh, recently— one of my sisters bought him a big Qifeng, which he actually liked. Yeah, strangely enough. And I read the reviews on it and they weren’t negative, but his calls kept dropping out. Oh, so they returned the phone. Um, and got a refund back on that. And well, I happened to ring Telstra the other day and I was frustrated again, which is why I was reaching out to you. What could be— I said, was there any issues, you know, with the reception? I know reception in his area is not always the best. Sure. And they said, actually, there’s been an outage around the 24th of May, which they’re still working on. So whether that had something to do with it or not. But in the meantime, he also suggested some Tick phone or something by Telstra.

[00:08:27] Trevor Long: Right. So they push it.

[00:08:28] VOICE OVER: What are they?

[00:08:29] Trevor Long: Blue Tick phones basically are phones that they’ve tested to have the best ability to pick up reception. That’s what a Blue Tick phone is. Is he in a regional area?

[00:08:37] Craig: No, metropolitan at Liverpool or Moorbank, actually.

[00:08:41] Trevor Long: Mate, I don’t think you need a Blue Tick phone. I think they just need to get over that network outage or need to try a different network. But, you know, when you say the big button phone, do you know what it was? No, or is that literally what it’s called?

[00:08:55] Craig: That’s what it’s called, Big Button Phone Company apparently.

[00:08:59] Trevor Long: Ah, gotcha, rightio. Well, look, I tell you this, if he, if you like that one, then the one I would recommend is similar. Um, and I think the Big Button Phone is from the Big Purple Phone people, so all respect to them. But one that I’ve tested and used and given advice to other people on and never heard a drama with is the Aspera. A-S-P-E-R-A. Aspera. You get them at Big W. It’s $129, right? So mate, nothing, nothing, there’s nothing to spend really. It is just a phone, so it’s just buttons and it’s a little flip phone. But here’s what I love about it, it comes with a little base, which I think the Big Button Phone might have done as well. So it’s somewhere to put it to charge. He doesn’t have to fumble around with a cable to charge it, it just goes into this little dock and that’s where it lives. And being $129, mate, it’s excellent value. What I would say to you is I would consider whether or not another network is a better option for you. And now that if you buy a phone for $129, he’s not going to be needing data, right? So just find the cheapest 12-month plan that you can get.

[00:10:05] Craig: Now, he doesn’t want— they’ve been all— both him and me mother are both been paying as you go.

[00:10:10] Trevor Long: Oh mate, crazy money. Like, what’s— do you know what he’s spending every month?

[00:10:15] Craig: Not— oh, as I said, they won’t— I’ve tried to talk them into putting a landline back on. They won’t do that because they don’t make enough calls.

[00:10:22] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:10:22] Craig: But they’re both elderly, they’re both profoundly deaf. I recently bought them an amplifier because I’m sick of trying to ring them and either my mother’s phone’s on silent and Dad just don’t hear it.

[00:10:36] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:10:36] Craig: So that’s helped a little bit. Yeah. Particularly if my mother’s phone’s off or do not ring, it still rings, which is good.

[00:10:43] Trevor Long: So the thing about a 12-month plan— so here’s what I did for my mum. Obviously I’m lucky I’ve got a bunch of crazy phones around, so I just gave my mum an Android. She’s young enough, shall I say, to use a smartphone.

[00:10:52] Craig: She was all right with that.

[00:10:52] Trevor Long: And then I just mate, I just went and got a Boost Mobile SIM card. I paid $200 or $300, whatever it was, for the year in advance, and it’s done. Now look, you can definitely spend less than that. So with Kogan Mobile, you could spend $150 for the year and you’re done. Um, you could also go to Aldi, and they have a $5 SIM card which lasts a year, and you just pay per call. Now the problem with that is someone’s got to top it up. Someone’s got to, you know, log in.

[00:11:24] Craig: I think that’s what they might be with because she said— my mother said they’re with Aldi, so that’s probably what they’ve got.

[00:11:29] Trevor Long: And it’s great until, mate, it’s not topped up because they forgot to top it up or they didn’t read the message that said to top it up. So I don’t know, I don’t love that idea for someone who is potentially in very urgent need of that device.

[00:11:44] Craig: Yeah.

[00:11:45] Trevor Long: So yeah, my advice is to look at something like the Aspera F50. Great phone. Big W has it, easy to buy. And then mate, just get them a SIM card, pay for it yourself for the year so they don’t have to worry about that rubbish anymore.

[00:11:58] Craig: Sounds good.

[00:11:59] Trevor Long: And they still do—

[00:12:01] Craig: you can still send messages on that.

[00:12:02] Trevor Long: Yeah, I mean, it’s not easy. It’s— but if you used a big button phone once, it’s the same thing. But you know, it’s like the ’90s texting. It’s not like a smartphone with a full keyboard.

[00:12:12] Craig: But it’s mainly that because he’s also got like a bit of a tremor in his hand now. So that’s the other thing.

[00:12:17] Trevor Long: So mate, the Aspera has your big keys, but it’s also got 3 buttons for M1, M2, M3, and then memory. So M1 could be you, M2 could be another child, or M3 could be the wife, whatever you want. Very simple and easy to use. It’s got a torch. I think it’s even got an emergency button on the back you can program so that it contacts you in an emergency. Yep. So, and unfortunately, mate, that’s where you’re at in life, you know, you’ve got to have that contemplation. The only other thing I’d say to you, mate, not to pry too much on your life with your parents, but, you know, a lot of people look at this age to think about getting maybe a little security camera for the lounge room. If they’ve got internet at home at all, they’ve got nothing.

[00:12:59] Craig: The only thing is one of my sisters has just moved back in with them. So that’s one thing. But she’s not there during the day. Right. That’s the only issue with him. But yeah, but he’s frustrated to the point is I don’t want a phone. But the fact is he’s on his own at times and if something happens and he still drives slightly.

[00:13:16] Trevor Long: Yeah, right.

[00:13:17] Craig: So he needs a phone regardless. Yeah. Okay.

[00:13:21] Trevor Long: Well, might have a look at the Aspera. It might be the perfect solution for you, buddy.

[00:13:24] Craig: Mate, thanks so much for your help and your advice. I appreciate it, Trevor.

[00:13:28] Trevor Long: My pleasure, mate. Anytime.

[00:13:29] Craig: Good on you. Goodbye now. Thanks, mate.

[00:13:30] Trevor Long: Cheers, mate. Thank you. Look, it’s not easy. It’s not easy having to parent your parents. I think we all learn that as we get older, that it becomes our job to parent our parents. And the reason I asked about the internet, because I love the idea of— I wouldn’t want to intrude in the privacy of the home, but you know, when my mum starts to show any signs of, hang on a minute, is everything okay down there? You know, ’cause she lives a way away. Rather than me driving down there every 5 minutes, I might put a little security camera on the kitchen bench just pointing at the lounge room so that I can see that she’s on the lounge watching TV and that she’s gotten up 2 times. You know, just peace of mind to go that she’s cool without having to ring her every 5 minutes to check in. So little things you can do with technology to make it work for you.

[00:14:18] VOICE OVER: Join the conversation. Head to eftm.com and click Ask Trevor.

[00:14:23] Trevor Long: Trev would love to have your company. If you’ve got a tech question or you’re in the market to buy something, let’s go secret shopping for you. Uh, you can get in touch, just send me a text, uh, 0477 657 657. We’ll get you on the show and have a chat. But before that, I want to talk TVs, and I want to talk about— I mean, 2026 is probably the biggest, um, changing point for TVs since the analog TV switch-off, uh, just because of the technologies that we are seeing launched across the market. So better, um, someone else joined me to talk about that than just me rabbit on. So from Samsung. Max Dupont is on the line. G’day, Max.

Max Dupont (Samsung) — Micro RGB TV technology and the big screen market

[00:14:58] Max Dupont: Good morning, Trevor.

[00:14:59] Trevor Long: Mate, lovely to talk to you. You live and breathe the TV market. Do you think this is like a fundamental year for TVs because of the shift in technology, or is it just me that’s seeing that?

[00:15:12] Max Dupont: No, absolutely. I mean, I think it’s the first year where we see a major shift in TV technology. As you know, we’ve been a leader for 20 years in TV and 12 years for sound. And I think as part of being a leader and maintaining that leadership, it’s important for us to continue pushing the boundaries and bringing new innovation on the market. So yeah, I think 2026 with the launch of Micro RGB for us is one of those big steps that we’ve taken in recent years.

[00:15:42] Trevor Long: I’ve talked a lot about the RGB, the Micro RGB technology even before CES, but CES was kind of its fundamental launch and now it’s in market in Australia. How do you describe it? You know, dinner party style, elevator pitch style. How do you describe Micro RGB to people?

[00:15:58] Max Dupont: Yeah, I think the best way I can describe it is it’s the next evolution in backlit technology. So most TVs that are being sold or in use in Australia are your traditional QLED or Mini LED TVs. Essentially, Micro RGB takes it to the next level in terms of precision. So each LED behind your TV has a red, green, and blue color on it and essentially gives you that next level of precision, but also much better accuracy and contrast. So yeah, I think in very simple terms, it’s a technology that has a lot more precision, greater color accuracy. And I think if you combine it with the fact that our Micro RGB range is also Pantone validated, so we have external certification to give you the best color possible on the screen.

[00:16:53] Trevor Long: And it’s fascinating because I think it’s the first time we’ve truly talked about backlight technology. I know it’s always been a fundamental part of television, but that’s one of the things that— and you demonstrated this at your office with some of your colleagues from HQ talking and showing us the kind of difference between this year and last year, the difference between different technologies. And it is a weird thing to say that you literally see more color from the TV.

[00:17:19] Max Dupont: That’s right. That’s right. You see more color because again, the color is coming directly from the LED. So as opposed to using a blue or white LED that goes through a set of filters. The Micro RGB, the beauty of it is the color is directly at the source. So you get a lot more precision in the color and the result that you have on your screen is again better contrast. The colors are a lot more vibrant. But as I mentioned earlier, I think what’s really good about the technology we’re taking to market is we get it independently tested to make sure that the color reproduction on the screen is absolutely accurate.

[00:17:57] Trevor Long: And when you say accurate, it’s a funny thing because I think most people would be sitting listening going, my TV is pretty colorful. Like, I mean, do you know what I mean? Like, we don’t know what we’re missing until we are shown it in a sense, in some ways.

[00:18:11] Max Dupont: Yeah, that’s right. I mean, there’s things like you can probably pick it up when you look at, for example, skin color, you know, often on, I guess, lower end type TV, the skin color can appear a bit orangey, whereas with Micro RGB, the beauty of it is with that extra precision, it looks, you know, the skin color looks a lot more human. And that’s probably the best terms I can put it.

[00:18:35] Trevor Long: Yeah, right. And that’s going to make a big difference when you’re watching all forms of content, particularly though big movies, big well-produced TV shows on the big streamers these days. A lot of effort goes into making the color demonstrate the picture that the story they’re trying to tell.

[00:18:53] Max Dupont: Yeah, correct. And I think, you know, Samsung is, you know, as you know, we’re a premium brand and I think we pride ourselves for giving, you know, Australian customers the best color reproduction and the best visual experience as possible. So, you know, whether you’re watching a movie or the World Cup or whatever might be next, you know, the Tour de France or the tennis Wimbledon, you know, we want to make sure that what comes up on your screen gives you the best immersive experience and you’re not distracted by questioning, you know, the colors or the accuracy on the screen.

[00:19:26] Trevor Long: And again, speaking of immersive, as you just did, one of the things that, as I understand it, with Micro RGB is you’re able to scale in a better way, not just for now, but for the future. Basically, you can make bigger TVs look better and bigger TVs are what people want.

[00:19:44] Max Dupont: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it’s definitely a trend that we’re seeing on the Australian market for many, many years. To give you a bit of stats, you know, if you look at 2025, over 40% of the TVs sold in Australia were 75-inch and above. Yeah. So Australians definitely have an appetite for large screen. The beauty of the Australian market as well is you actually have the space. You tend to live in bigger homes, in bigger spaces. So my recommendation for anyone that, you know, is looking for a TV right now on the market— and I think right now is probably one of the best times of the year, we’ve been on financial year— is not to be afraid to go the next size up. So I think if you’re thinking 65-inch, uh, and you think you’ve got that extra space, you will not regret that extra investment into a 75 or an 85-inch or even more.

[00:20:33] Trevor Long: Is there anything unique about Australia in the global market around size, or is the whole world going bigger?

[00:20:40] Max Dupont: Well, I mean, look, there is a trend worldwide in terms of, you know, bigger screens. But Australia is leading that trend. We’re in the top 4 countries in terms of screen sizes and we’ve got one of the fastest adoption of 98-inch and above screen sizes as well. So Australia, from that perspective, is leading the way. And the other piece as well to really remember is when you go bigger, there’s more potential for reflection on the screen. So I would recommend anyone to really be careful with that when you’re upgrading to a larger screen and consider products like our glare-free certified range.

[00:21:24] Trevor Long: Which is a remarkable technology. When I first saw it, I was pretty blown away because I’ve seen it on some laptops, and I wouldn’t buy a laptop without it now. And you think that’s a 13-inch, 14-inch screen. Now you think about a big TV in your— on the wall in your lounge room. And one of the things that I’ve started to think about with GlareFree Max is it’s not just about light. Like, often I think of it as my ceiling lights in my lounge room. They do literally appear in the middle of my TV. It’s frustrating because I don’t have a GlareFree screen, but it’s not just light. It’s simple things like the reflection of people as well. So if someone behind is walking behind you doing something behind the lounge, you might actually see them in the picture and it’s kind of distracting. So glare-free is about more than just a bright light. It’s about actually turning what is sometimes almost a mirror finish into something that is, you know, really watchable in every light circumstance, day and night.

[00:22:21] Max Dupont: Yes, correct. And I think that’s exactly the point. I think with glare-free, and it’s also, if I could add, it’s also the type of features that you don’t really know you need until you’ve actually seen it and experienced it. I don’t know any customer that has bought a glare-free TV and has gone, no, no, I want to go back to a glossy finish. That’s something that we never hear.

[00:22:44] Trevor Long: But once you’ve seen it, you know, the worst part is I’ve got an absolutely beautiful Samsung TV here in the office. It’s a Neo QLED 8K from a couple of years ago. It’s a beautiful television, but all I see now is the reflection. All I see is the glare because I’m like, I’ve now seen the other side.

[00:23:01] Max Dupont: I’ve seen what it can be like.

[00:23:03] Trevor Long: And that’s that regret thing, isn’t it? What do you reckon is the best way to, I guess, test that in a retail environment? Because that’s a challenging place for people. You’ve got all these TVs often playing the same content or interesting demo content. What do you think is the best way to, I don’t know, convince your partner if you’re there shopping that glare-free versus not is the choice?

[00:23:26] VOICE OVER: Yeah.

[00:23:26] Max Dupont: And I think, look, that retailer environment is perfect for it, right? You’ve got hundreds of TVs that are on display across many many brands. I think what I would encourage people is obviously ask, you know, the floor staff to show you a glare-free TV, and often it’s sitting next to a glossy screen, right? And I think just pay attention to, especially in retail environment, right, you’ve got lighting pretty much left, right, and center. So just have a look at the glossy screen and you’ll see the reflection, and then if you’ve got a glare-free screen next to it, do that comparison. And then you will see that from an immersion perspective, it’s next level. And I think, yeah, the point I’m trying to make is if you’re going to invest, TVs cost a few thousand dollars. If you’re going to make that sort of investment and you want to enjoy, again, the World Cup or your favorite movie, there is nothing worse than actually seeing a lamp on the screen or seeing yourself on the screen or any other type of distraction. And that’s— if I look at glare-free for us at Samsung in 2025, we increased our sales by threefold in glare-free. And we still have a lot more work to do. But again, it’s one of those things that we can’t really show on a product page on a website. We can talk about it, but I would really encourage anyone to go into a retail store and actually experience that technology. It is best in class. The other beauty of it as well is we’re not making a compromise in terms of color reproduction or viewing angle or anything like that. Like really glare-free, we give you the same experience as any other screens, but just better.

[00:25:10] Trevor Long: Interestingly, just looking through the menu system on a Samsung TV I’ve got in front of me at the office, the other thing that’s happening right now is the World Cup. And it’s phenomenal how a modern TV is so much more than just, you know, a bunch of channels because like on the home screen, it’s just recommending so much content around the World Cup. It’s so much easier to find content these days on a modern TV. Isn’t it?

[00:25:34] Max Dupont: Yeah, correct. It’s become like a little companion, right? So the TV sort of recognizes your habit or your viewing habits and then will make recommendations on the screen or will keep your favorite app more accessible in terms of how it ranks on the menu. So yeah, there’s a lot of intelligence now that goes into our TVs. And I think, you know, again, speaking for Samsung, but if you combine that with the fact that we offer 7 years of operating system upgrades, you know, if you buy a TV from us, I think it gives you the guarantee that all these features, all these AI functions, you’ll have that accessible to you for the next 7 years, which is remarkable.

[00:26:18] Trevor Long: And look, a point I would make as someone who is lucky enough to play with the most amazing TVs is this kind of, especially the content offering that now exists on TVs, it’s right across the range. I bought 3 very affordable, let’s just call them, I think the cheapest possible 43-inch TVs that Samsung sells for the office here, just to put on the wall, replace some older ones that had aged. And I’m looking at going, this has got everything. It’s got all the same stuff. I’ve got all these great recommendations. I’ve got the amazing number of channels of Samsung TV Plus. I’ve got all the apps I could need. Like you don’t need to spend crazy money to get the modern features of a smart TV. Encouraging to know that the whole range of TVs on the market do offer a very modern experience. We have come a long way in TVs.

[00:27:08] Max Dupont: No, that’s a good point. I appreciate you calling that out as well, Trevor. I think for us, again, as much as we’re a premium brand on the market, accessibility is really important. You know, the way I like to divide the market is you’ve got about 50% of the market that sits below $2,000 TVs, and then the other 50% is above $2,000 TVs. And for us, we want to make sure that we have a TV for every Australian and the foundation of that is making sure that some of those core features like Vision AI Companion are accessible and available to everyone to enjoy.

[00:27:42] Trevor Long: It’s an exciting year for TVs. It will be a battle though, won’t it, in retail? Because every— like, you’re not the only one with this technology or with a type of this technology. It’s going to be a battle in retail. And you’re right about the different time of year. This is a pretty good time of year to be looking for a TV because already, despite the fact that they’re brand new, there are already looking like some pretty good deals leading up to end of financial year.

[00:28:06] Max Dupont: Yeah, I mean, yeah, definitely the right time to purchase a TV right now. I mean, I think the other point as well, Trevor, I know we talked a lot about large screens, but I mean, you would remember from probably a decade ago, you know, what was the price of a 100-inch TV? It was probably, you know, over $100,000, you know. Nowadays, you know, we have an option for every price point. And if you look at some of our 100-inch or 98-inch and above TVs, you know, you can find some for under $5,000. Yes, we have, you know, the pinnacle of large screen, like a 115-inch at $41,999. But again, I go back to the point that we try to make size and features all accessible for every Australian. So yeah, don’t be afraid of going big this end of financial year. I think whether you’re looking at 75, 85, or 98-inch plus, there’s some really accessible options from us for sure.

[00:29:04] Trevor Long: Good advice. And yeah, definitely get into retail stores and actually compare, look at them side by side, look at the different screen technology, the screen coating, the style. And also wherever you can, one of the things I say in retail is, you’re about to spend money, ask them to grab the remote and press the button, press the home button. What does the menu look like? I mean, it might not have all the internet connectivity stuff, but just understand what it’s like to browse the menu system because that’s gonna be your daily TV. You don’t buy a car without driving it. You really should kind of ask to take the control of the remote in the retail store too.

[00:29:37] Max Dupont: That’s great advice. And look at the television, not only front-facing, but look at it from an angle to make sure you get the right experience as well. Going back to that glare-free piece, you know, grab your smartphone, turn on the light on your smartphone and reflect that on the screen. That’s a good way to sort of see the work that the glare-free coating does at not reflecting the light. So there’s quite a few things you can do. But to your point, you know, if you’re about to spend a few thousand dollars on a TV, yeah, test it, try it, try the sound that goes with it. You know, if you’re gonna go with a premium TV option, consider a soundbar. I think, you know, our range of soundbars give you that extra immersive experience. And again, you know, with end of financial year right now, there’s probably no better time to purchase a soundbar with it.

[00:30:27] Trevor Long: Good advice, Max. Good on you, mate. Thanks for the chat and I’ll catch up soon.

[00:30:30] Max Dupont: Thank you, Trevor. Have a great one.

[00:30:35] Trevor Long: Style.

[00:30:36] VOICE OVER: This is the EFTM podcast with Trevor Long.

[00:30:42] Trevor Long: Great to have your company. Thank you for listening. Thank you for downloading and sharing your experiences. If you’ve got a tech question, I’d love to hear from you. Peter’s on the line. G’day, Peter.

Peter — Follow-up: Hisense TV replacement resolved

[00:30:50] Peter: Morning, Trevor. G’day, mate.

[00:30:51] Trevor Long: Thanks for taking my call, mate. Thanks for calling back, in fact, because we spoke a little while ago. Remind me of your woes.

[00:30:58] Peter: We did, yes. 65-inch Hisense TV, which created some dots over about a 6-month period in the screen.

[00:31:06] Trevor Long: Oh, that’s right. So the backlight was going and you could see, you could essentially see where the light with the backlight— because you sent me some photos, you could see where the backlights were not showing. But the TV, if I recall, was 5 years old.

[00:31:18] Peter: Yeah, 5 years old.

[00:31:19] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:31:20] Trevor Long: And so we were on that edge of, oh my God, Australian Consumer Law versus warranty versus expectations. But you sent me everything you could. You sent me the model number, you sent me some photos. I sent it to Hisense. I’ve been away. What’s happened?

[00:31:33] Peter: Oh, within a day and a half, I had a phone call from Hisense Melbourne and spoke to them. They were brilliant. And we talked about the issue of the TV, and they didn’t argue at all. They talked about the process that was going to happen after the phone call, which was, um, they were going to SMS me a claim number and I was to go to Good Guys here in WA and choose another TV as they were going to replace it.

[00:32:04] Trevor Long: Oh, beautiful. Yeah. So what was the value though? Because that’s a tough thing to come up with, right? You’ve got a 5-year-old TV which cost you a certain amount at the time, but I guess you can’t expect brand new like for like. What was your expectation?

[00:32:20] Peter: Oh, well, the expectation from Hisense was that the credit was what we paid for the original TV, which was $290 in the end. Wow. So we were happy to upgrade the TV and pay the difference. So we bought a— well, didn’t buy, but we arranged another Hisense, a 75-inch this time. And the Good Guys actually said they’d do it the same price, which was great of them as well. And then they organized for it to be delivered, the old one taken away and this new one installed. So you couldn’t— you’ve already got it running, to be honest. The guys that delivered it got it running. It was brilliant.

[00:32:58] Trevor Long: Bloody amazing. Well, you know what? So there’s a couple of things there. Great. Good news story because they came to the party. Secondly, despite your experience, you still went with Hisense because I’m assuming you didn’t have to. I’m assuming that was like a store credit or did you have to buy Hisense?

[00:33:12] Peter: It was a store credit, but we felt that because Hisense had looked after us really well, that we would stick with them.

[00:33:18] Trevor Long: Yeah, good.

[00:33:19] Peter: Excellent.

[00:33:19] Trevor Long: And have you— mate, tell me about the feeling of having a 75-inch TV now.

[00:33:23] Peter: Well, yeah, it’s amazing compared to the old one, to be honest. But in the room it’s in, it doesn’t look overly big, which is great.

[00:33:30] Trevor Long: Yeah, yeah, right.

[00:33:31] Peter: So it’s not in your face, but the picture’s unreal.

[00:33:34] Trevor Long: I’m glad you got a resolution. I’m glad Hisense looked after you. I’m glad the Good Guys looked after you at the same time. You know, it’s a nice win all round.

[00:33:42] Peter: It was, yeah, indeed. Yeah. So yeah, thanks to you, EFTM, Hisense, and the Good Guys. They’ve all been brilliant.

[00:33:48] Trevor Long: Mate, good on you. Enjoy the TV and happy viewing for many, many, many years to come.

[00:33:53] Peter: Yeah, looking forward to it.

[00:33:54] Trevor Long: Thanks, mate. Cheers, buddy. Thanks for getting back in touch.

[00:33:57] Peter: Cheers. No worries.

[00:33:58] Trevor Long: Thank you. There you go. Solution solved. And you know, as we said, there was no— let me be clear how that works. I don’t say to Hisense, you must fix this. I say, look, I sent them a copy of our call. So they heard everything I said to Peter, that I thought it was on the edge of Australian consumer law, it’d be a battle and all those things. And they’ve obviously assessed it of their own and made the decision to offer the credit. And as Peter said, he could have bought anything. It was essentially a store credit. So very good of him to be loyal to Hisense at the same time. But he’s got a bigger TV now, so happy days. And I’m sure it will last just as long, if not much, much longer.

[00:34:43] VOICE OVER: You’re listening to the EFTM podcast. You can text Trev now thanks to Vodafone on 0477 657 657.

[00:34:56] Trevor Long: We’d love to have you on the show if you’ve got a tech question and you need help with something, whether it’s something that’s gone wrong or you’re in the mood for a new phone or a new TV and you just want some advice, happy to help wherever I can. Send us a text, we’ll get you on the show and hopefully resolve that for you. Something that has been quite topical of late is telcos, and we’ve had things like the 000 outages, we’ve had satellite questions, we’ve had so many things going on in the telco market. And to be honest, I feel like a lot of it sits with the government. I feel like the government doesn’t fully understand where we are today and where we need to be in the future with technology just going so fast, moving so fast in this space. And frankly, it’s all for the benefit of consumers, but unfortunately legislation needs to catch up in a lot of ways. And there’s one organisation that is representing us— it’s the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, and Carol Bennett is the CEO and she joins me on the line right now. G’day, Carol, how are you doing?

Carol Bennett (ACAN CEO) — Telco regulation, Triple Zero, and consumer protections

[00:35:57] Carol Bennett: Great to talk to you, Trevor.

[00:35:58] Trevor Long: Are you busy? Busier now than ever before?

[00:36:01] Carol Bennett: We are very busy. Quite right. There is a lot happening in this space and it is a really, really busy— it’s quite a progressive time when it comes to changes in the telco market.

[00:36:15] Trevor Long: Look, I could ask you what’s your biggest issue, but let me jump on the soapbox first. I think that I get a sense and I could be completely wrong, but I get a sense that regulation and government rules have not and are not ready to catch up to where we are today. And the best example of that is satellite direct to mobile. So we have Elon Musk’s got a million satellites above us and, you know, thanks to Telstra doing a deal with them, you know, there’s people who can now send an SMS in the middle of nowhere. It’s amazing. But they can’t make a phone call. And I don’t think yet that’s truly a technological problem. I think that’s a legislative problem because Telstra knows that if they made that available to people, they wouldn’t be able to call 000 because I don’t think the satellites are configured to understand all that. Are we— am I reading it right that we’re at a point where technology could do so much more for us, but we need the regulation to catch up?

[00:37:06] Carol Bennett: Yeah, look, I think you’re right, Trev. Absolutely, you’re right. And I think this is an area that’s playing catch-up because, look, telcos have for a long time been self-regulated. They’re not seen as an essential service under the law or under regulation. And yet, as you know, we all need to access connectivity. We need to be able to communicate for everything we do, whether it’s accessing government services, educating our kids, or accessing health services, work. Everything we do now is reliant on this. And yet we’ve got a system that has largely been overseen by a voluntary code by the industry. And all of a sudden we’ve got this emerging, rapidly evolving technology that we all want to be able to access well into the future, and we’re playing catch-up with the regulations, which is why so much is happening in the space at the moment.

[00:37:59] Trevor Long: So who’s responsible for speeding this up? Does the government just simply need to task ACMA with the responsibility of delivering on this, or is it a little bit more fundamental than that?

[00:38:12] Carol Bennett: Well, the government has been tasking ACMA with a whole lot of things. For instance, they’re requiring that they now move away from this voluntary code of the industry for consumer protections and directly regulate the industry. So that’s an uplift. They’re mandating coverage maps so that the industry can’t just say, look, you know, if you’re out in this area, you’ve got coverage when you haven’t. They’re mandating outage registers so that telcos have to tell consumers when there are outages and what’s happening with them. There are all sorts of new obligations on industry, including the UOMO, which is the Universal Outdoor Mobile obligation that you referred to, which is the satellite-to-device technology. And there’s legislation on the way with that. And as you mentioned, with the regulator ACMA, it needs a huge uplift. Its powers, its penalties are just substandard for the task at hand. So there is another bill at the moment that’s before the Parliament, which is the Enhancing Consumer Safeguards Bill, which will also give ACMA increased powers. So there’s a lot happening in this space. There’s triple zero reviews underway. All of these things will significantly increase and enhance the sector, and it needs to, and it needs to happen quickly because, as you say, we’ve got, you know, SpaceX rapidly evolving its technology. We don’t want to miss out on that. And we also don’t want to end up with consumers in a position where they either can’t access it because they can’t afford it, and then having some people connected and some not, because that digital exclusion will make sure that people are not able to participate in society. And that’ll have a massive impact.

[00:40:02] Trevor Long: For my sins, I’ve watched many too many Senate Estimates inquiries, and I don’t know why. What I need to is be in like a padded room when that happens so that I’m not throwing things at my screen because I find, and I’ll be completely honest with you, I find most of the senators in that quite frustrating because they’re talking to our telcos, for example, trying to get gotcha moments and, you know, sound bites that aren’t actually benefiting the cause of investigating, you know, whether it’s the triple zero or communications generally. I just feel like it’s poorly done that we don’t actually make progress through those things. And like, you know, I feel like the ACCC is another example where I’m, you know, the Australian Consumer Competition, like that’s what it’s about, us getting competition. Whereas I think it was the ACCC, not ACMA, that deemed we shouldn’t have domestic roaming, you know, 6 or 7 years ago, which would have been the most competitive thing that could have ever happened to the industry. I don’t feel like the right people are defending the consumers at that point. Have you got enough help?

[00:41:10] Carol Bennett: Well, I think this is an interesting issue that you raise here, Trevor, because I think with domestic mobile roaming, there is a growing view in the community and from some politicians. Helen Haynes has raised this, Senator Henderson has raised this, the Greens have raised this. I mean, I think there’s a growing view that, you know, if international visitors can come to Australia and access and roam on our networks and access any network regardless of which provider they’re with, Australians should be able to do that too. It shouldn’t be that, you know, if you’re in an area that doesn’t have, you know, a telephone tower owned by your provider, that you can’t actually get connectivity. It just seems like nonsense to most people. So this is definitely something that should happen. We’ve got to make sure that we have got access wherever people are in Australia, and that shouldn’t just be about satellite to device because that technology is still evolving. We could be doing this now if we had domestic mobile roaming where there had to be sharing of terrestrial infrastructure by, you know, Telstra, Optus and TPG. And it’s probably timely that the ACCC reviewed that decision. It’s 10 years old now.

[00:42:33] Trevor Long: And so it’s probably, you know, given everything we know now about, you know, the issues that can be caused by lack of connectivity, then it seems logical. And also, surely the punishment lies upon the networks who don’t build out towers so that if a TPG customer happens to use the Telstra network a lot, it’s costing TPG because Telstra has to oncharge them, I’m assuming.

[00:42:57] Carol Bennett: That’s right.

[00:42:57] Trevor Long: It has to be a way that it’s incumbent upon the telcos to grow their networks because that’s, you know, they’re not going to do that any other way.

[00:43:07] Carol Bennett: That’s right. You’re exactly right. Because increasingly what we’ve seen is a reduction in the investment by the telcos in infrastructure out in regional areas of Australia. Yeah. So this effectively means that you’ve got people in the regions who just don’t have access to connectivity in large swathes of the country, and they’re at real risk. I mean, not only are they not able to work, educate their kids, access health services or government services, but they actually are at a safety risk if they can’t access 000 or, you know, they can’t contact people in an emergency situation. So it really is the case that we have to mandate it either through coverage obligations on the telcos, right? You know, they pay for spectrum, but in return we should put some obligations on them back to the community to ensure public safety.

[00:44:03] Trevor Long: There’s another issue there with the government potentially charging too much for spectrum and forcing them into less investment in the same way. I mean, it’s kind of give and take at the same time. There needs to be a relationship between the telcos and the regulators and the government in the same way as there is a transactional one.

[00:44:21] Carol Bennett: Yeah, there does. And I think that whole issue of spectrum pricing is an interesting one because, you know, it’s taxpayers who have the right really to have this asset priced in a way that ensures that it meets the obligations that the community place in these telcos. And, you know, if we’re providing the spectrum and they’re generating a significant profit as a result of having access to that very exclusive licence— let’s be honest, it’s not contestable. It’s just given to the telcos. They’re not even having to go to an auction this time. They’re getting a billion-dollar discount on last time. So in return, what we want to see are obligations back on the telcos to say, well, if you’re getting this precious public asset that taxpayers are footing the bill for, you should also ensure that you’re delivering access and coverage, and that will protect the public safety. So there are different arguments about spectrum and pricing, but for us the issue is there must be obligations on industry to deliver, you know, coverage, but also public safety.

[00:45:32] Trevor Long: So what is— and I alluded to it at the start— what is your number one issue right now with the telecommunications network and industry?

[00:45:40] Carol Bennett: Well, the number one issue, if you had to look at all of this complexity of issues that are happening at the moment, it’s that it’s not deemed to be an essential service, and it is. So when the original Telco Act came into effect in 1997, that was back in an era where, you know, pay phones and landlines were predominant. We’re now in an era where we’re all carrying around phones and devices and using them all day, every day for everything we do. It’s the way we operate. It’s the economic underpinning of everything we do. It’s our way of connecting. So we’ve got to treat it like an essential service. We’ve got to regulate it that way. We’ve got to make sure that laws come into place that ensure that telcos have obligations back to the community. We shouldn’t just be saying, look, there’s a voluntary code and we’ll let you act in the interests of the Australian community based on what you think is in your own commercial interest, because we know that doesn’t work. Telcos have shareholders, they have interests in ensuring their commercial advantages are met. But we’ve also got to make sure that we’re putting on them some obligations to ensure that they are meeting the community’s obligations. And every other sector does this. So this is one of the only sectors that hasn’t had those kinds of obligations placed on them. Just as, you know, energy, water, banking, insurance— all of these sectors have had requirements, and increasingly those requirements have been uplifted over time because it’s really important to protect the public interest. And you can’t rely on commercial organisations to do that. It’s not in their interest to do that. So we need a bit of both.

[00:47:30] Trevor Long: It’s fair. And I assume it’s the telcos that don’t want it from what you say.

[00:47:35] Carol Bennett: Well, of course not. But, you know, we pay a price if we don’t have those things in place. And we’ve seen increasingly, Trevor, over time, as you mentioned, you know, we’ve seen triple zero outages, we’ve seen data breaches, we’ve seen unconscionable sales practices. So many of these things have led to a lack of consumer trust in the telco industry. It’s the least trusted sector of all sectors in Australia at the moment, and that’s because of these failures. And when people don’t feel safe, they don’t trust companies. So to restore that balance, we probably need to uplift our regulation, our legislation, and ensure that the community and their needs are being met. And, you know, when it comes to regions of Australia where people can’t get connected and some communities actually just don’t get connectivity at all— that’s a really challenging situation. It really does undermine confidence and trust from the community, and we need to restore that.

[00:48:38] Trevor Long: Can we expand a little bit on the triple zero conversation before I let you go? Because for me, not only is it technically a critical thing that must evolve given the direct-to-cell, for example, satellite stuff, but also just primarily in a smartphone era, I don’t think it’s evolved. You know, I was somewhere— it might have been at the Apple event— and they just in the sidebar mentioned, you know, it would send your location or something when you made this emergency call. I thought, we don’t have that in Australia. You know, we must be a long way behind. But are we also unique in our use of 000 as a kind of fundamental requirement of the telcos? Like, is there a balance between the way Americans view their 911 at a legislative level versus ours and how they approach innovation in that space? Because we need innovation, we need the triple zero network. You should be able to text it, for example.

[00:49:37] Carol Bennett: You, when you call it, it should send a GPS signal.

[00:49:40] Trevor Long: It should make use of this amazing computer in your hand and give the emergency services the best chance of finding you and helping you, and you the best chance of being safe.

[00:49:51] Carol Bennett: Absolutely, you’re exactly right, Trevor. And I think that issue about not being able to text 000 is, you know, quite concerning for a lot of people. And I think what this underpins is that we’ve got our device manufacturers, you know, launching ahead of our 000 service— such as Apple— launching ahead of, you know, these emergency systems and access points. But we do have two fundamental reviews of Triple Zero at the moment. One is a Senate inquiry into the outage that occurred back in October from Optus, and there’s another one, a government review of the whole ecosystem. So there will definitely be some changes. I think there’s a broad recognition from government and industry that there needs to be some uplift. One of the things that ACAN has highlighted recently, which has been somewhat controversial, has pinned the fact that, you know, people are reporting that they’re not getting through to 000 when they call it. So there needs to be more work done about the reliability of the system and how the system responds to the community at a broader level. So I think there will be a lot of work being done to ensure that the system is upgraded and meets the current modern-day requirements that the Australian community has, because it’s so fundamental to how people—

[00:51:18] Trevor Long: I think they overthink the whole thing, if I’m honest. I think they overthink the whole thing. We should just be funding with all of our might, because we spend money on crazy things. We should be funding a brand new technology that sits between the call center— which is, you know, a really important part of it— and the devices, which could be any form of device, and simply make sure that every single method of contact can be done through that technological system into the call centre. Really, it’s that link in between the physical 000 call centre and the physical handset is what we need to build. And I think we’ve got some of the smartest minds in the world here in Australia. I don’t know why we can’t just say, here’s X million dollars, build it and make it so robust, it’ll work no matter what. It’s quite simple.

[00:52:05] Carol Bennett: Yeah. And I think we’ve got archaic systems that are, you know, that are decades old.

[00:52:09] Trevor Long: I keep hearing them say we’ve got to upgrade this. No, no, no, no. Don’t upgrade anything. Keep the thing running and build another one over there that routes through to the call centre. And when we’re ready, switch it over and just be the most modern emergency system in the world.

[00:52:26] Carol Bennett: Well, I think you reflect what a lot of Australians are thinking and feeling at the moment, Trevor. I think it’s funny— they expect, and they’re paying for it. So they do expect it to work when they most need it at their hour of need. And to be faced with the prospect of these outages occurring, you know, of the fact that they might not be able to get through if they need it— I mean, 47% of Australians have said to us that they’re concerned they won’t get through to 000 if they call it. So that suggests we’ve got a lot of work to do. There is a lot of work underway. So that is very good. And there’s a lot of increased legislation, regulation, obligations on the telcos, which there does need to be because it really hasn’t had that kind of focus as other sectors have. And really it’s become now a glaring problem because we’re all reliant on this technology. We all need to have it in place to, you know, to ensure that we can connect to our family, friends, workplaces, health services and so on, but also for our safety. So it is a fundamental issue. It needs to be the highest priority to ensure that we get this right so people can actually function in their daily lives. It’s really important.

[00:53:44] Trevor Long: Well, thank you for the efforts you’re putting in and the work that you do to lobby on behalf of not just your members, but generally the public at large. And hopefully there is some more push and some modernization and some change because we live in such an amazingly awesome advanced world. We can’t have systems and policy that lives in the ’90s, let alone the ’70s.

[00:54:08] Carol Bennett: Absolutely agree, Trevor. Great to chat to you.

[00:54:10] Trevor Long: Thank you, Carol.

[00:54:12] VOICE OVER: 0477 657 657. That’s the text line. Thanks to Vodafone. Get in touch and ask Trev today.

[00:54:29] Trevor Long: See, I love the stings. How long’s it been since we updated those? Good year or so. I think they’ve grown on us all, haven’t they? Have the stings grown on us all? I feel like they have. So, uh, thank you, Ralph, for enjoying the stings. Um, but yeah, they’ve grown on me. I hope they’ve grown on you as well. All right, let’s do it all again next week, folks. Uh, next week we’re going to talk computers, uh, again. We’re going to talk laptops with HP. I’ll get— I’ll talk to Mark Finson from HP about the state of the AI PC market and what I’ve learned about what’s required to power an AI PC. And it might surprise you, as it did me. But anyway, that’s all next week on the EFTM Podcast.

[00:55:14] VOICE OVER: This is the EFTM Podcast.