Maker Pro
Maker Pro

Kogan and Aldi Mobile phone services on a sinking ship?

D

Don McKenzie

Kogan and Aldi Mobile phone services on a sinking ship?

ISPone in a court battle with Telstra may kill Kogan and Aldi mobile phone services.

Read the story at:
http://whrl.pl/RdF7jc

Don...


--
Don McKenzie

$30 for an Olinuxino Linux PC:
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/olinuxino.html

The World's Cheapest Computer:
DuinoMite the PIC32 $25 Basic Computer-MicroController
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/the-maximite-computer.html
Add VGA Monitor/TV, and PS2 Keyboard, or use USB Terminal
Arduino Shield, Programmed in Basic, or C.
 
P

Petzl

Kogan and Aldi Mobile phone services on a sinking ship?

ISPone in a court battle with Telstra may kill Kogan and Aldi mobile phone services.

Read the story at:
http://whrl.pl/RdF7jc

Don...
Thanks another article
http://www.zdnet.com/au/ispone-sues-telstra-to-stop-mobile-service-termination-7000019248/
--
Petzl
http://tinyurl.com/HAT-MURDOCH-PROMISED-ABBOTT
http://tinyurl.com/AbbottsPorkPies
Q: What has Tony Abbott promised Murdoch?
A: A broadband network that will be so slow as to offer no competition to his pay TV interests.
Rupert Murdoch tries to buy U.S. presidency
http://tinyurl.com/ab3y6nl
Federal Police investigating Murdoch http://afr.com/p/business/marketing_media/federal_police_join_news_probe_s0h2FfmrnzYD7dIbq8s04L
Murdoch hiring hackers to kill off opposition
In Australia Murdoch doing the same
http://afr.com/p/business/marketing_media/pay_tv_piracy_hits_news_OV8K5fhBeGawgosSzi52MM
Paul Keating's assessment of Rupert Murdoch as "a big bad bastard"
"Murdoch 'not fit' to run News Corp" < http://tinyurl.com/7njegk3 >
"Rupert Murdoch has let it be known within his organisation that Australia needs change in Canberra and his editors were simply doing his bidding"
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=12041
 
D

Don McKenzie

31 minutes ago:

ispONE has undergone a restructure in bid to protect a segment of its enterprise telco business.

According to EFTM, the company has formed a new group known as “iboss international pty ltd” and will allocate the
customers its servicing through its Optus resale agreement in to the new entity.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au...estructures-protect-enterprise-telco-business


--
Don McKenzie

$30 for an Olinuxino Linux PC:
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/olinuxino.html

The World's Cheapest Computer:
DuinoMite the PIC32 $25 Basic Computer-MicroController
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/the-maximite-computer.html
Add VGA Monitor/TV, and PS2 Keyboard, or use USB Terminal
Arduino Shield, Programmed in Basic, or C.
 
B

Bob Milutinovic

SG1 said:
Good one Don, must be a member to login and read

Have you tried a different browser?

I'm not a member and wasn't offered any log-in prompts; the story just
appeared.

Note that I'm using FireFox with both AdBlock and Ghostery running, so if
they're using any scripting to "force" such a log-in, either or both of
those could've thwarted it.
 
D

Damian Andrews

Bob Milutinovic said:
Have you tried a different browser?

I'm not a member and wasn't offered any log-in prompts; the story just
appeared.

Yep, there's no login request.
 
K

keithr

Kogan and Aldi Mobile phone services on a sinking ship?

ISPone in a court battle with Telstra may kill Kogan and Aldi mobile
phone services.

Read the story at:
http://whrl.pl/RdF7jc

Don...
Telco claims wholesaler is "bankrupt".

ispONE will pay a further $200,000 to ensure continuity of service from
Telstra for another day while mediation between the two over unpaid
bills moves into its second day.

Telstra this week threatened to terminate mobile services to the
wholesaler amid claims it owes the telco $12 million.

The Victorian Federal Court on Monday granted a limited injunction until
4pm yesterday to prevent Telstra from cutting the supply of prepaid
mobile services to ispONE while the case was heard, which was yesterday
extended to 2:15pm today.

ispONE paid the court $300,000 for the initial injunction and $200,000
for the second.

In a late sitting that adjourned around 9.30pm last night, Justice Tony
Pagone reserved his decision on whether to grant ispONE a full
injunction while he considers the case.

Mediation between the parties includes representatives from ispONE
customers Kogan Mobile and Aldi.

ispONE has this week also been forced to deal with a damages claim by
Kogan Mobile in the Victorian Supreme Court, after the retailer was
successful in its bid to stop ispONE suspensing and blocking Kogan
Mobile customers for "overuse".

That case that was raised by counsel representing Telstra as they argued
ispONE would be unable to pay its debts and was, they alleged, “bankrupt”.

Telstra’s legal team cited ispONE’s confidential balance sheet and
profit and loss statement as proof the firm had negative equity and was
insolvent.

“Whichever way this company turns, it is, with great respect, finished,”
they alleged.

Counsel representing ispONE argued Telstra should amend unpaid invoices
to reflect the service price ispONE believed it should have been
charged. Then it would be able to clear its debt.

ispONE will claim Telstra engaged in unconscionable conduct by making
representations to the wholesaler that it would match call and data
pricing offered by Optus as part of the deals it was seeking to strike
with Kogan Mobile and Aldi.

It also alleges Telstra asserted “commercial pressure akin to duress” in
demanding ispONE make prepayments of future amounts owing in order to
ensure its service wasn’t terminated.

But counsel representing Telstra argued in some cases Telstra’s pricing
was more favourable than that offered by Optus, at 7.5 cents per minute
versus 8 cents per minute, and 7.3 cents per SMS compared to 8 cents per
SMS in the case of one plan included in the contract.

They also argued the Optus agreement was for six months, with prices
variable on 48 days notice, while Telstra’s agreement was for a fixed
term of three years, with pricing also fixed for three years.

“Even on the Optus rates, the deal that ispONE made with Kogan and Aldi
was improvident,” counsel representing Telstra alleged, arguing ispONE
took a risk and miscalculated the usage by end users with Kogan and Aldi.

Justice Pagone moved to hear arguments immediately after yesterday’s
hearing was delayed due to ongoing mediation, in the hope of finalising
the injunction request before moving to a full trial on the issue of
misleading and deceptive conduct.

“It is not appropriate for the court to impose on any organisation,
whether Telstra or any other, the obligation to provide some sort of
service for which it is not likely to be paid,” he said.

Counsel representing ispONE said it could offer additional assurance of
$300,000 if a trial were to proceed today, and if an injunction were
granted for three weeks, it would look to the $4 million it had owing to
it by month-end to make good on its undertaking.

He said ispONE had acted in good faith, facilitating discussions to
allow its proprietary platform, necessary for continuity of service to
prepaid mobile customers, to be made available to others.

A decision is expected by 2.15pm tomorrow. Justice Pagoine said he would
extend the limited injunction if he was not able to come to a decision
by that time.
 
D

Don McKenzie

Kogan and Aldi Mobile phone services on a sinking ship?

ISPone in a court battle with Telstra may kill Kogan and Aldi mobile phone services.

Read the story at:
http://whrl.pl/RdF7jc

court finding 20 minutes ago:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2135162&p=42#r828

takes a bit of reading but it looks like Kogan and Aldi have been holding back from paying invoices for some reason.

Don...


--
Don McKenzie

$30 for an Olinuxino Linux PC:
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/olinuxino.html

The World's Cheapest Computer:
DuinoMite the PIC32 $25 Basic Computer-MicroController
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/the-maximite-computer.html
Add VGA Monitor/TV, and PS2 Keyboard, or use USB Terminal
Arduino Shield, Programmed in Basic, or C.
 
K

keithr

The Federal Court in Victoria has placed an injunction on Telstra,
preventing it from disconnecting 280,000 mobile services currently
operating on the Telstra 3G mobile network through reseller ISPOne until
a court case between the two companies over money owed to Telstra has
been resolved.

(Credit: ISPOne)

ISPOne, which resells mobile services to smaller telcos such as Kogan
Mobile and Aldi, filed an urgent application in the Federal Court on
Monday, claiming that Telstra had sought to terminate services due to a
failure to pay invoices. ISPOne has said that no money is due, because
Telstra is calculating the amount owed based on incorrect pricing of
data for prepaid mobile services.

ISPOne has claimed that Telstra is in breach of its agreement with
ISPOne, and that it is entitled to damages because of problems with the
wholesale service that Telstra offered, over which ISPOne said it saw a
delay in mobile numbers porting to Telstra.

The two companies battled it out in court until late Wednesday night,
with the court ruling that the injunction preventing Telstra from
cancelling ISPOne's services will be held over until the case can be
heard on an as-yet-unannounced date.

In the meantime, ISPOne has been asked to pay the court AU$300,000, but
it is believed that Telstra is seeking millions of dollars that it
claims the company owes Telstra.

Telstra said that it has given ISPOne many chances to pay the money owed
to it.

"As the court has heard, we are a creditor of ISPOne. Over a period of
several months, we have given them every opportunity to develop a
repayment plan for their debt, but to date we have been unable to reach
a satisfactory agreement," a Telstra spokesperson told ZDNet in a statement.

"We will continue to defend the claims raised by ISPOne. We have
contingency plans in place to limit the impact on end users."

ISPOne declined to comment.

The case throws into question the future for the services sold by
ISPOne's customers Kogan and Aldi. Both telcos have long contracts in
place with ISPOne, but ZDNet has heard from multiple sources that Kogan
Mobile is currently shopping around for a new provider to ensure a
continuity of services for its hundreds of thousands of customers.

Moving to any mobile network operator that isn't Telstra may prove to be
difficult, however, with both Optus and Vodafone recently moving to
scale down the number of resellers on their networks, instead focusing
on customer retention rather than customer acquisitions.

The move would come as no surprise to many of Kogan Mobile's customers,
however. In May, ISPOne was ordered to pay Kogan Mobile damages for
suspending over 700 Kogan Mobile customers who were flagged by the
company to be using too much data.

The court case comes as ISPOne is reportedly restructuring and
rebranding its business. A spokesperson for ISPOne denied that the
rebrand is in relation to its dispute with Telstra.

"The recent communication, sent in commercial confidence, informed
wholesale partners of an organisational restructure and rebrand
initiative that is part of an ongoing strategy that has been in
development for the past 18 months. The rebrand is not related to the
legal issues currently undergoing mediation."
 
D

Damian

keithr said:
The Federal Court in Victoria has placed an injunction on Telstra,
preventing it from disconnecting 280,000 mobile services currently
operating on the Telstra 3G mobile network through reseller ISPOne until a
court case between the two companies over money owed to Telstra has been
resolved.

(Credit: ISPOne)

ISPOne, which resells mobile services to smaller telcos such as Kogan
Mobile and Aldi, filed an urgent application in the Federal Court on
Monday, claiming that Telstra had sought to terminate services due to a
failure to pay invoices. ISPOne has said that no money is due, because
Telstra is calculating the amount owed based on incorrect pricing of data
for prepaid mobile services.

ISPOne has claimed that Telstra is in breach of its agreement with ISPOne,
and that it is entitled to damages because of problems with the wholesale
service that Telstra offered, over which ISPOne said it saw a delay in
mobile numbers porting to Telstra.

The two companies battled it out in court until late Wednesday night, with
the court ruling that the injunction preventing Telstra from cancelling
ISPOne's services will be held over until the case can be heard on an
as-yet-unannounced date.

In the meantime, ISPOne has been asked to pay the court AU$300,000, but it
is believed that Telstra is seeking millions of dollars that it claims the
company owes Telstra.

Telstra said that it has given ISPOne many chances to pay the money owed
to it.

"As the court has heard, we are a creditor of ISPOne. Over a period of
several months, we have given them every opportunity to develop a
repayment plan for their debt, but to date we have been unable to reach a
satisfactory agreement," a Telstra spokesperson told ZDNet in a statement.

"We will continue to defend the claims raised by ISPOne. We have
contingency plans in place to limit the impact on end users."

ISPOne declined to comment.

The case throws into question the future for the services sold by ISPOne's
customers Kogan and Aldi. Both telcos have long contracts in place with
ISPOne, but ZDNet has heard from multiple sources that Kogan Mobile is
currently shopping around for a new provider to ensure a continuity of
services for its hundreds of thousands of customers.

Moving to any mobile network operator that isn't Telstra may prove to be
difficult, however, with both Optus and Vodafone recently moving to scale
down the number of resellers on their networks, instead focusing on
customer retention rather than customer acquisitions.

The move would come as no surprise to many of Kogan Mobile's customers,
however. In May, ISPOne was ordered to pay Kogan Mobile damages for
suspending over 700 Kogan Mobile customers who were flagged by the company
to be using too much data.

The court case comes as ISPOne is reportedly restructuring and rebranding
its business. A spokesperson for ISPOne denied that the rebrand is in
relation to its dispute with Telstra.

"The recent communication, sent in commercial confidence, informed
wholesale partners of an organisational restructure and rebrand initiative
that is part of an ongoing strategy that has been in development for the
past 18 months. The rebrand is not related to the legal issues currently
undergoing mediation."

It's pretty obvious, the reason they are rebranding their business.
 
G

Guest

On Mon, 19 Aug 2013 00:21:10 +1000 Damian wrote:-
It's pretty obvious, the reason they are rebranding their business.
Anybody see any news from Aldi regarding all of this?

As an aside, any reason why an Aldi (Telst$a) sim will not pick up 3G
in Moree, where 3G is available?
 
B

Bob Milutinovic

On Mon, 19 Aug 2013 00:21:10 +1000 Damian wrote:-

Anybody see any news from Aldi regarding all of this?

As an aside, any reason why an Aldi (Telst$a) sim will not pick up 3G
in Moree, where 3G is available?

Which bands does your 'phone cover? It's possible that Telstra's using only
the 850MHz band there and your 'phone doesn't support 3G on that band.
 
G

Guest

On Mon, 19 Aug 2013 05:30:05 +1000 Bob Milutinovic wrote:-
Which bands does your 'phone cover? It's possible that Telstra's using
only the 850MHz band there and your 'phone doesn't support 3G on that
band.
Samsung S3, covers all bands
 
G

Guest

On Mon, 19 Aug 2013 05:51:09 +1000 Rod Speed wrote:-
The web site hasn't even changed at all.
https://www.aldimobile.com.au/


Its never been the whole Telstra system.

How do they control which bands you use / pick up?

Is this a SIM card thing, or at the exchange?

And what advantage would it be to them to deny access to 3G where
available?
 
R

Rod Speed

On Mon, 19 Aug 2013 05:51:09 +1000 Rod Speed wrote:-
How do they control which bands you use / pick up?

Dunno, haven't bothered to check that.
Is this a SIM card thing, or at the exchange?
Dunno.

And what advantage would it be to them
to deny access to 3G where available?

Likely it isn't about advantage, but since I don't
know why it isnt the who Telstra system, it isn't
obvious why it isn't. Its likely spelt out on Whirlfool.
 
K

keithr

Accountancy firm Ferrier Hodgson has been appointed to act as the
administrator to the mobile service reseller that was responsible for
acting as a wholesale intermediary between Telstra and mobile service
providers such as Aldi Mobile and Kogan Mobile. ISPOne also had a small
number of fixed-line products.

Telstra and Medion Australia, which supplies the Aldi Mobile brand, have
entered into an interim agreement to continue service to Aldi customers
subsequent to the ISPOne administrator's termination of its contract
with Telstra Wholesale.

"Because Medion and Telstra Wholesale have been able to negotiate a
direct supply agreement, there will be no changes to the services for
Aldi Mobile," Telstra Wholesale group managing director, Stuart Lee,
said in a statement.

For Kogan customers, the outlook is less stable. Telstra said that it
would not be accepting any requests for new Kogan Mobile services, and
that existing Kogan customers would have the opportunity to switch.

"For mobiles, we will not be accepting new activations, number port-ins
or processing credit recharges from ISPOne on behalf of Kogan Mobile,"
said Lee. "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 will not be able to recharge their accounts, with
existing quotas expiring in 30 days, and Telstra porting the customers
onto a "limited 7 Day Plan". The movement of Kogan customers will be
prioritised by the amount of the user's balance; users with low or zero
numbered balances will be the first moved over.

The 7-Day Plan is a large reduction in service from the "unlimited"
plans that Kogan Mobile offered at its launch. Telstra's interim service
gives customers only 20 voice call minutes and 20 SMSes, while any data,
international calling and MMS services are disabled.

After the 7-Day Plan, if a Kogan Mobile customer has not moved to
another provider, the customer will be unable to move calls, but can
still receive and make emergency calls for six months. If the number has
not been ported after six months, the service will be cancelled
altogether, and the number placed in quarantine.

Telstra cited the fact that it does not have access to Kogan customer
data, and cannot therefore provide any customer support; the telco does
not regard Kogan Mobile customers as Telstra customers.

Customers with concerns are being urged to speak to their retail
providers, but Lee warned of potential delays due to industry limits in
processing churning and porting requests.

"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," he said.

Kogan Mobile has had a troubled existence in its eight-month tenure. The
telco was criticised early on for blocking customers who used too much
data, with Kogan Mobile blaming ISPOne for suspending customers without
its authorisation. Following this incident, Kogan took ISPOne to court
and won damages for losses suffered due to ISPOne suspending its customers.

Earlier this month, ISPOne claimed that Telstra was attempting to
disconnect its customers for failure to pay invoices. ISPOne won an
injunction against such a move.

Kogan Mobile was approached for comment, but no response had been
received by the time of writing.

Via ZDNet.com.au
 
K

keithr

ispONE’s voluntary administrator has cancelled supply of Telstra
Wholesale Pre-Paid Mobile

ispONE has been a customer of Telstra Wholesale for mobile products, as
well as broadband and a relatively small number of fixed line voice
products. ispONE on-sold these products and services to retailers and in
some instances to the public. For example, ispONE supplied two
companies, the online retailer Kogan Mobile and Medion (who sells mobile
services through the ALDImobile brand), utilising the Telstra Wholesale
Pre-Paid Mobile product.

Telstra Wholesale has been advised that ispONE has appointed Ferrier
Hodgson as a voluntary administrator and the administrator has cancelled
the contract for the supply of Telstra Wholesale Pre-Paid Mobile
products. Post-Paid Mobile, fixed and broadband (other than Pre-Paid
Mobile broadband) services have not been impacted by the appointment of
the administrator.

Telstra Wholesale has entered into an interim agreement with Medion
Australia for the supply of wholesale Pre-Paid Mobile services. Medion
is the supplier to ALDImobile.

How are Pre-Paid Mobile services affected?
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.

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.

We will progressively deactivate Kogan Mobile services according to the
transition plan described below. Through this managed process, we aim to
ensure that everyone can transfer their mobile phone number to another
provider if they wish to do so.

Transition plan to help those with Kogan Mobile services
To minimise any inconvenience, Telstra Wholesale will provide limited
interim services. If you have an active pre-paid service with Kogan
Mobile, Telstra Wholesale will enable a limited service to give you time
to choose your preferred retailer and, if necessary, move your number to
that retailer.

What service is available?
Telstra Wholesale will send an SMS to users of Kogan Mobile services as
follows:
“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.”

From today, you cannot recharge. Regardless of your plan’s expiry date,
existing voice, SMS and data balances will be available for up to a
maximum of 30 days from 19 August 2013. If your current plan adds a data
allowance each month, this allowance will no longer be added.

Over the next 30 days, Telstra will progressively move all active Kogan
Mobile services to a limited 7 Day Plan. There are limits to the whole
industry’s capacity to implement mobile number porting requests. If
large numbers of people try to port out at once there may be some delays.

The time you have left to consume any existing voice, SMS and data
balances will depend on when you are moved to the 7 Day Plan. This could
be any time during the next 30 days. We will prioritise those with no or
low credit balances or time left on their plan, consistent with our aim
to keep the mobile number porting process working efficiently.

What is the limited 7 Day Plan?
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. Voice call durations will
be rounded up to the next whole minute and the 20 minutes allowance
includes calls forwarded to voicemail.

Unplayed voicemail messages are held for 10 days. Played voicemail
messages are held for 7 days. Played and stored messages are held for 10
days. Voicemails can be played until their expiry. Voicemail retrieval
will not use up your 20 voice call minutes during the 7 Day Plan.
Current voicemails cannot be retrieved after you transfer your mobile
phone number to another service provider.

When will the 7 Day Plan start for me and how will I be notified?
Over the next 30 days, Telstra Wholesale will progressively send out
another SMS message, confirming that start of your 7 Day Plan.

We will send this SMS message in batches every day over the next 30 days
and we will prioritise those with little or no remaining credit balance.

What happens after the 7 Day Plan?
After the 7 Day Plan, and for a period of 6 months, the service will no
longer be able to make calls, although it will still receive calls and
you’ll be able to make emergency 000 calls. If the service has not
ported out after the 6 month period, the service will be cancelled and
the number placed in quarantine.

If you lose outbound service before your 7 Day Plan
You may lose your outbound voice and SMS service if your credit, plan or
monthly recharge expires before your 7 Day Plan begins. Data top up will
also no longer be available.

You will not be able to recharge, so if you lose your outbound service,
we advise you to transfer your service to another provider immediately.

Transferring to another mobile provider
If you are affected by this situation you may want to move to another
mobile service provider. You can keep your existing mobile number when
you change to a new service provider. This is known as mobile number
porting.

Mobile service providers will act on porting requests from anyone
wishing to transfer their mobile number to the supplier of their choice.
There are limits on how many ports the industry can process in addition
to normal sales and activation activity, so please be patient. Telstra
has briefed the industry group that ensures the efficient operation of
Mobile Number Porting to prepare for increased volumes of transfers as a
result of this event.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) publishes a
factsheet on mobile number portability here.

Contact your service provider for support
Please contact Kogan Mobile for customer service support and for any
other matters.

Customers of Kogan Mobile are not customers of Telstra. If you are a
customer of Kogan Mobile, we do not have access to your personal
information and we cannot provide you with customer service support. The
company that sold you your service is your retailer and your best point
of contact.
 
K

keithr

Dear Kogan Mobile Customers,

Important update concerning the continuity of your Kogan Mobile Service

As a challenger brand, we’re used to being up against some of the
biggest companies in the world to get the best deal for our customers.
We’ve successfully disrupted entire industries, with our low margin,
high volume technology business.

While the launch of Kogan Mobile was a success for consumers, securing a
great deal on mobile access at an unbeatable price, not everyone in the
industry was happy about it.

We have fought hard for the Australian consumer, spending countless
hours and millions of dollars in legal and administrative costs to
defend your right to a fair deal! Our intention from day one was to
build a long-term, sustainable, and value-based alternative to the big
telcos. We believe technology makes the world a better place, which is
why we have fought hard for better value mobile deals for everyone in
Australia. The endless negotiations, and even the occasional visit to
the Supreme Court to protect your interests and ensure that you continue
to get the best deal have worked, until today.

There are forces at play in the Australian telecommunications market
that are beyond our control, very powerful, and impossible to ignore.
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.

In our email last week, we advised that Kogan Mobile had recently become
aware of the following -

Telstra is in dispute with ispONE, Telstra’s sole distributor of
prepaid 3G mobile services and Kogan Mobile’s essential supplier
Telstra had taken steps to terminate its contract with ispONE. If
Telstra terminates its contract with ispONE, this would be very likely
to impact Kogan Mobile’s own customers’ services (through no fault of
Kogan Mobile)
ispONE had commenced proceedings against Telstra in the Federal
Court and obtained a short term injunction to restrain Telstra from
terminating its contract with ispONE
The Federal Court ordered Telstra and ispONE to attend mediation.
Although not party to the Federal Court proceedings, Kogan Mobile was
permitted to (and did) attend the mediation

We now understand the mediation between Telstra and ispONE failed to
achieve a satisfactory result for Telstra. Telstra has today notified
Kogan Mobile that it will be terminating the supply of 3G Prepaid Mobile
services to its wholesale reseller ispONE within 24 hours, and has
established a transition arrangement in respect of your service. Kogan
Mobile understands that ispONE has appointed voluntary administrators today.

Kogan Mobile has tried to do everything it can to protect its customers.
However, contrary to our numerous and concerted efforts to persuade
Telstra to maintain and support Kogan Mobile's arrangements with
Telstra's sole distributor, ispONE, Telstra has advised that it will
terminate the 3G Prepaid Mobile services to Kogan Mobile. This will
impact the continuity of your service, and those of other Kogan Mobile
customers. While the timing and nature of the transition arrangements
are dictated by Telstra, Kogan Mobile has negotiated the optimal
arrangements that Telstra would allow.

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. Importantly, Kogan Mobile
customers who have remaining credit at the time their services are
terminated by Telstra will have their entire remaining balance refunded
to them by Kogan Mobile. The refund amount shall be calculated as the
pro-rata amount remaining on the date of deactivation of service.
We’re Devastated

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. We’re concerned that it
won’t be long before your choice as a consumer is 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.
What will happen to my mobile number?

Don’t worry, your number is safe! Your mobile number will stay active
for 180 days from today. You will be able to transfer (port) your phone
number to another provider at any time for the next 180 days.
What does this mean?

Based on information provided to us by Telstra, we understand that the
following will be the transition arrangements that Telstra will enforce -

Within the next 24 hours, Kogan Mobile customers will be unable to
activate new services, or recharge existing services
In the coming weeks, you can expect to receive an SMS from Telstra
advising you that your service will cease within a limited period (up to
60 days), but not before you receive a second SMS advising that there
are 7 days to change (port) your number to an alternate provider
During this period, you will be able to use your existing service
and consume your existing credit
Telstra will then send a second SMS at some stage during the 60 day
transition period, which will advise that there are 20 minutes of calls
and 20 SMS remaining credit available for use within 7 days to
Australian numbers, while data services, international calls,
international SMS and MMS will be excluded. You will continue to be able
to retrieve your voicemail messages during this 7 Day Plan and for up to
10 days afterwards.
For 180 days from today, customers will still be able to receive
calls, receive SMS and transfer (port) their mobile numbers and make
emergency calls at any time for 6 months thereafter. If your service has
not ported out after the 6 month period, the service will be cancelled
by Telstra
Kogan Mobile recommends that, upon receiving the second SMS from
Telstra, you take action to transfer (port) your mobile number to
another provider, or otherwise make arrangements for continuity of your
mobile service. We also encourage customers to plan ahead for receipt of
the second SMS from Telstra by acquiring a new SIM card from another
provider as soon as possible.
On behalf of our customers, we are currently seeking to negotiate
some deals with several leading mobile phone providers. We will keep you
informed about any special offers we manage to negotiate on your behalf
and which you may wish to take up.

What will happen to the unused credit I've paid for?

Once you have ported your number to another provider, or your service
otherwise ceases, Kogan Mobile will, of course, refund to you the unused
portion of your Access Period back to the credit card or Paypal account
that you originally paid with.

As a consequence of Telstra’s termination of the 3G Prepaid Mobile
services, the Kogan Mobile customer service team is likely to be
inundated with calls and emails, and is likely to take longer than
normal to respond. We will provide further email updates to answer your
most common questions, and will provide you with further information as
it comes to hand.

If you have an urgent enquiry, please email [email protected] and
we will respond as quickly as we can.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

For ease of reference, this is a copy of the email we sent you on
Tuesday 13th August:

Thank you for joining us on the journey to make mobile access in
Australia more affordable. We entered the mobile industry in order to
increase competition and give consumers more choice and better value.
Since starting Kogan Mobile, we are proud to now serve more than 115,000
active customers.

We have fought hard for the Australian consumer – there have been
endless negotiations and even the occasional visit to the Supreme Court
to protect our customers’ interests and ensure that our customers
continue to get the best deals. However, there are forces at play in the
Australian telecommunications market that are beyond our control, very
powerful and impossible to ignore.

You may be aware that we procure our mobile services for part of the
Telstra 3G Network through Telstra’s sole and approved distributor –
ispONE. ispONE is the only company in Australia that wholesales
Telstra’s Prepaid 3G Services and is essential to the operation of our
and any business through that network. Telstra’s Prepaid 3G Network is
not integrated with any other wholesale platform, other than ispONE’s.

Since day one, Kogan Mobile has complied with all its obligations to its
service providers. We keep our agreements. We have paid every invoice on
time or early. Like our customers, we expect our service providers to
deliver what they have been paid for.

Kogan Mobile has recently become aware of the following -

Telstra is in dispute with ispONE, Telstra’s sole distributor of
prepaid 3G mobile services and Kogan Mobile’s essential supplier
Telstra has taken steps to terminate its contract with ispONE. If
Telstra terminates its contract with ispONE this is very likely to
impact Kogan Mobile’s own customers’ services (through no fault of Kogan
Mobile)
ispONE has commenced proceedings against Telstra in the Federal
Court and obtained a short term injunction to restrain Telstra from
terminating its contract with ispONE
The Federal Court ordered Telstra and ispONE to attend mediation.
Although not party to the Federal Court proceedings, Kogan Mobile is
permitted to (and will) attend the mediation

Kogan Mobile is doing everything it can to protect its customers.

We are monitoring these developments closely, as they may affect the
continuity of our prepaid mobile services. We will provide a further
update when further information comes to hand.

You may also wish to contact Telstra directly and ask Telstra what it
intends to do in respect of its wholesale prepaid mobile business and
customers’ mobile telephone services if it achieves its goal of
terminating its contractual arrangements with ispONE.

Kindest regards,
Kogan Mobile
 
Top