Telco dispute leaves kogan mobile isp users in limbo

[mik]

I just found out about this today, looks like anyone with kogan mobile(yours truly :( ) might end up without services it would seem after kogans intermediary provider has had a dispute with telstra, aldi also uses the same provider but it seems a deal has been struck and will be ok.
kogan mobile is still working at the moment, it might pay to look further into it if on the kogan deal.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technolo...-1226699930561

KOGAN Mobile customers have 30 days to find a new mobile provider or risk losing their mobile number forever.

Telstra wholesaler ispONE announced today that it was terminating its contract with Telstra, leaving Kogan Mobile customers out in the cold.

"Telstra Wholesale has been advised that ispONE has appointed Ferrier Hodgson as a voluntary administrator and the administrator has cancelled ispONE's contracts for the supply of Telstra Wholesale prepaid mobile products," Telstra Wholesale director Stuart Lee said in a statement.

Read the full statement below.

ispONE provides Telstra 3G mobile services to companies such as Kogan and ALDImobile, meaning the future of those services is under threat.

Telstra has entered into a temporary agreement with ALDIMobile supplier Medion Australia to continue to provide services, The Australian Financial Review reported.

But what this means for low-cost mobile providers in the long term is unclear.

What this means for Aldi and Kogan customers

Aldi Mobile customers are safe as Telstra has formed a temporary agreement with Medion to ensure no services are interrupted. However, about 120,000 Kogan Mobile customers will need to find a new provider, as Telstra says it won't accept new requests from Kogan Mobile.

"For mobiles, we will not be accepting new activations, number port-ins or processing credit recharges from ispONE on behalf of Kogan Mobile," Mr Lee said in a statement. "An interim service will be available for a fixed period of time for people who have active prepaid mobile services from Kogan Mobile so they have time to choose their next steps."

Kogan Mobile customers have 30 days to move to a different service or risk losing their number forever. They also won't be able to top up their balance on their account due to the fact that it technically doesn't exist anymore, thanks to ispONE's cancellation of its contract with Telstra.

Importantly, Kogan Mobile has promised to refund any and all of its customers remaining credit from the time their services were terminated by Telstra

"The refund amount shall be calculated as the pro-rata amount remaining on the date of deactivation of service," it said.

According to the Telstra website, Kogan Mobile customers are expected to receive a text message from Telstra over the next few hours informing them that their mobile service is not longer supported.

"You can't recharge but your number remains active for voice calls &SMS. Find out at [here] about how you can keep your number &transfer your mobile service to another provider. Contact Kogan Mobile for support."

Telstra will begin moving customers onto a 7-day plan in the interim to reduce the pressure on the Mobile Number Porting Authority as customers begin moving to other carriers, according to its website.

Customers who don't accept the 7 Day Plan offer or let it lapse will no longer be able to make calls unless it is to emergency numbers, (they will still be able to receive calls). If they do not move their mobile phone number to a different service within six months, the service will be cancelled and the number placed in quarantine,.

Kogan smells a conspiracy

Kogan Mobile says it is "devastated" by the ispONE / Telstra fallout and has described the dramatic turn of events as a conspiracy by Telstra to "take back" the 120,000 mobile customers that "flooded" to its service when it launched in December.

"There are forces at play in the Australian telecommunications market that are beyond our control, very powerful, and impossible to ignore," it said on a statement on its website. "When over 100,000 people took their services to Kogan Mobile, in such a short space of time, it attracted a lot of attention. Unfortunately and frustratingly, it appears like the telco heavyweights may be determined to take their former customers back and they may be prepared to do so by force."

"We believe that fair and open competition is great for consumers, but unfortunately that competition is being forcefully limited today."

The telco apologised for the unfortunate turn of events.

"While this matter is entirely out of the control of Kogan Mobile, we nevertheless sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that these transition arrangements may cause to you," it said."

We are extremely upset to have to bring you this news. We set out with the aim to make mobile services in Australia more affordable for all, and were well on the way to achieving this goal.

"The migration to Kogan Mobile was one of the biggest in Australian telecommunication history. As we lowered the prices for services, we were happy and so were our customers - but not everybody in the industry was pleased with what we were doing.

"As you may have seen recently, many companies have fallen out of the prepaid unlimited market. We're afraid that due to certain industry dynamics, this is a sign of things to come".

Kogan Mobile said it was concerned that before long consumers choices will be "eroded almost completely".

"We worry that the big telcos in Australia will continue their consolidation of power. Inevitably, this will mean higher prices. We're not happy about this but at this stage it's not something we can do anything about. Kogan Mobile has been muscled out of the mobile industry against our will by a force much bigger and much stronger than us."

ALDImobile have not responded to news.com.au's requests for comment.

ispONE sells profitable parts of business

The dramatic turn of events comes less than a week after ispONE announced that it was undergoing a rebrand, changing its name to "iBoss".

ispONE administrator, Stuart McCallum told news.com.au that it entered into a "sale agreement for the profitable part of the business" and cancelled the aspects that were not profitable.

The Administrator said the Telstra contract was the only agreement that was unprofitable and was therefore the only service that was terminated.

Last week ispONE took Telstra to court after it threatened to cancel its supply of 280,000 prepaid mobile services, claiming ispONE had failed to pay its bills.

ispONE countered Telstra's claim arguing that Telstra was the one that owed it money after it failed to properly disclose the price of data for its prepaid mobile services.

The court dismissed the case. Kogan Mobile notified its customers of the potential impending changes that have since come to fruition, encouraging them to lobby Telstra to prevent them from cutting off services to Kogan Mobile.

Kogan Mobile also sued ispONE in Victoria's Supreme Court after it booted more than 900 customers from their service for allegedly using their phones too much.

Concerned mobile customers can contact Kogan Mobile on 1300 056 426

Full Telstra statement:

"Telstra Wholesale has been advised that ispONE has appointed Ferrier Hodgson as a voluntary administrator and the administrator has cancelled ispONE's contracts for the supply of Telstra Wholesale prepaid mobile products.

Telstra Wholesale has entered into an interim agreement with Medion Australia for the supply of wholesale prepaid mobile services. Medion is the supplier to ALDIMobile.

ispONE had been a customer of Telstra Wholesale for mobile products as well as a broadband and a relatively small number of fixed line voice products. ispONE onsold these products and services to retailers and in some instances to the public. For example, ispONE supplied two companies, the online retailer Kogan and Medion (who sells mobile service through the ALDIMobile brand), using the Telstra Wholesale prepaid mobile product.

Telstra Wholesale Group Managing Director, Stuart Lee, confirmed that given the relationship with ispONE for prepaid mobile services had ended, Telstra would not be accepting any requests for new Kogan Mobile services from ispONE, although people with existing services would have the opportunity to switch to other providers.

"For mobiles, we 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 prepaid mobile services from Kogan Mobile so they have time to choose their next steps," said Mr Lee.

"Because Medion and Telstra Wholesale have been able to negotiate a direct supply agreement there will be no changes to the services for ALDIMobile.

People who have services through ispONE and its retail partners, such as Kogan Mobile, are not customers of Telstra.

"We do not have their account information and we cannot provide them any customer service support. For any questions about their service, people should contact their retail service provider," said Mr Lee.

There are limits to the industry's capacity to implement mobile number porting requests and requests to churn fixed line voice and broadband services. If large numbers of people try to switch providers at once there may be some delays across the industry.

"People who want to change providers should approach their service provider of choice who can request the number port, but we would ask for patience as there are limits on how many ports the industry can undertake in addition to normal sales and activation activity. To provide for a smooth transition we are providing interim voice services across the impacted mobile and fixed line services."