Why Spark is about to hit businesses up with $2-per-line monthly charge

Spark [NZX: SPK] is introducing a new $2 ex-GST a line per month service to protect against hackers and fraudsters.

The new charge kicks in from April 22. It's pitched as optional – but it will be applied to every voice channel by default. Customers have until April 22 to opt out if they don't want it.

Spark spokeswoman Michelle Baguley says the new charge will only be added to each voice channel for Spark Digital customers. Spark Digital (formerly Gen-i) serves mid-to-large size organisations. Typically it doesn't service any business with fewer than 30 staff.

"Voice fraud and PABX hacking is a big problem, and is on the rise – the cost to our customers has doubled in the last 12 months alone to $1.9 million, so our aim is to help our customers protect themselves."

"The fraud risk has significant costs and consequences both to Spark Digital and our customers and for that reason we’ve decided to invest in this issue, and offer a level of protection that we think our customers are more likely to want than not.

"From today, a new service has been offered to all customers who have a hosted service or an onsite PABX (phone system)."

Ms Baguley says the new security add-on removes the risk of hackers running up big bills on customer accounts by hacking their PBX.

"With this service, we proactively monitor the network for any threats, minimising the exposure to external fraud and, in case of a PBX hacking attack, we will refund the charges for calls fraudulently made by the hackers, from the commencement of the attack until the time we shut it down," she says.

"It uses new tools that have a higher rate of detection and prevention than before, and absolves the customer from financial responsibility in the case of a hack."

PABX hacking
Martin Cocker, chief executive of the non-profit Netsafe, which partners with the police (among other organisations) says his organisation is getting reports about company phone systems being hacked "but we haven’t seen anything like the kind of numbers Spark is talking about."

He adds that doesn't mean PABX fraud isn't on the rise. It could be that that not all incidents are being reported to his organisation.

The NZ Law Society recently issued a warning about PABX hacking, and the potential for mischief and thousands in charges if a hijacked phone system was set to divert calls to toll numbers.

NBR's advice: Remember the words of lawyer and competition advocate Michael Wigley, who wrote in an op-ed for NBR that everything is always on the table with your telco contract, even if it's not yet up for renewal. Be vocal about services you think should be part of the standard price, and do let your carrier know if you're willing to walk.

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