Kogan Mobile customers are about to have their phones deactivated following the appointment of administrators to junior telco ispONE.
Founded and partly owned by BRW Young Rich list members Zac Swindells and Chris Monching, ispONE been placed into administration after a legal battle with Telstra over its deal to sell pre-paid mobile services to more than 280,000 customers.
On August 19, Ferrier Hodgson confirmed ispONE has been placed in administration and Telstra has confirmed that the administrator has cancelled ispONE’s contract with Telstra for the supply of pre-paid mobile services to retailers including Kogan Mobile and supermarket chain Aldi.
Aldi, which sells pre-paid mobiles under the Medion brand and had a direct supply arrangement with Telstra, struck a deal with the telecommunications giant on August 17 and 18, which will ensure its 130,000 customers are not be affected by the appointment of the administrators.
But Kogan Mobile’s 120,000 customers have not fared as well. They will have a maximum of 30 days to move to another provider. If they don’t their phones will be deactivated.
Telstra has set-out its plan for affected customers in a statement from Telstra Wholesale’s group managing director Stuart Lee, which has been published on its web site. It suggests that Kogan Mobile’s customers will get access to an “interim service” while they “choose their next steps”.
“Because Medion has entered into a direct supply agreement with Telstra Wholesale, Telstra is able to continue to supply Medion to support their ALDImobile customers,” Lee says in the statement.
“Given the Pre-Paid Mobile relationship with ispONE has ended, and in the absence of any direct contractual relationship with Kogan Mobile, Telstra will not be accepting new activations, number port-ins or processing credit recharges from ispONE on behalf of Kogan Mobile.
“An interim service will be available for a fixed period of time for people who have active pre-paid mobile services from Kogan Mobile, so that they have time to choose their next steps. The interim service will be provided at Telstra’s cost.
All Kogan Mobile customers will be a moved to a “7 Day Plan” over the next 30 days.
“During the 7 Day Plan the service will be limited to 20 voice call minutes and 20 SMS messages to Australian numbers, while data services, international calls and MMS will be excluded.”
Customers will not be able to make calls after conclusion of the seven days.
The statement suggests Kogan Mobile customers will shortly receive the following text message.
“An important message from Telstra Wholesale about your mobile service. Kogan Mobile services are no longer supported. You can’t recharge but your number remains active for voice calls & SMS. Find out at http://goo.gl/9qYEEO about how you can keep your number & transfer your mobile service to another provider. Contact Kogan Mobile for support.”
Late on August 19, Kogan Mobile released its own statement confirming that its customers phones would soon be shut-down.