Technology

Around one in two Australians have suffered a problem with their phone or internet service, Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Judi Jones said.

Almost 3,000 people from across Australia’s residential consumers and small businesses were surveyed, Ms Jones told an industry conference this week.

She said the survey found 20 per cent of residential consumers had more than one phone or internet issue over the past year, and one in four issues remained unresolved after four months.

Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt has called on senior Australians to embrace the rollout of My Health Record, for secure, safer and more convenient care.

Mr Wyatt said the patient-centred digital system helped health professionals deliver the best care.

“My Health Record empowers Australians to take better control of their health and provides secure access to patients’ health information at the point of care,” he said.

Seniors are embracing technology and making smartphones a key part of their lives, a new report has found.

Monash University’s Dr Harriet Radermacher said a Deloitte mobile consumer survey showed a 10 per cent increase in older people’s smartphone ownership in the year to July 2017.

It found 78 per cent of seniors aged 65 to 75 owned a smartphone, up from 69 per cent in 2016, as well as 82 per cent of 55 to 64-year-olds.

Mobile banking via phone or tablet is set to overtake internet banking using a website in the next few years.

Roy Morgan Research found in the six months to June 2017, 8.3 million people used mobile banking in an average four-week period, up from 4.83 million in 2013, an increase of 3.47 million or 71.8 per cent in only four years.

Just over half the50,000 consumers surveyed over a year said internet banking using a website remained the main channel for dealing with a bank.

Australians have lost or destroyed 2.5 million smartphones in the past few years, at a cost of $755 million, a new survey shows.

Comparison website finder.com.au said one in 10 phone users had damaged at least one device beyond repair, while six per cent had simply mislaid their phone.

Gen Yers – or those born between 1981 and the mid-1990s – were the worst offenders, with 26 per cent losing or damaging their phones.

That was three times the rate of Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964.