After a jubilant time on Wall Street overnight, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is following suit on Friday.
At lunchtime, the Australian index was going for 2.75% higher, lifting the mood for all investors.
Even though ASX technology shares were leading the rally, the two biggest telecommunications stocks were underperforming. Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) shares were up just 1.14% and the TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) stock price was 1.55% higher.
So what's going on?
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A promise that couldn't be fulfilled
The muted investor enthusiasm might have to do with a federal court ruling that was revealed on Friday morning.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced it was successful in its court case against the two ASX-listed giants — plus the number two player Optus — in getting them to admit they misled consumers on NBN speeds.
Telstra was penalised $15 million, Optus $13.5 million and TPG was fined $5 million for breaching Australian consumer law.
The offences related to the companies' statements about their 50Mbps and 100Mbps fibre-to-the-node plans.
Each telco promised to tell customers within a reasonable time if their actual NBN speeds could not reach the plan they were paid for. The companies all claimed those customers would be offered a slower and cheaper plan with a refund.
That was found to be misleading because none of the companies actually had "adequate systems, processes and policies" to fulfil the promise.
"Some customers may have paid for a 50 or 100Mbps plan believing their NBN connection could support the higher download speeds, even though they would have been better off paying for a lower speed plan," said ACCC commissioner Liza Carver.
"It is illegal for businesses to make false or misleading representations to consumers about the performance characteristics, nature, standard or quality of products and services."
Almost 120,000 customers were impacted by the breach across the three internet providers.
According to the consumer watchdog, all three telcos have now implemented remediation programs and contacted affected customers to dish out refunds.
Telstra, Optus and TPG were also ordered to pay a part of the ACCC's legal costs.
