Telstra burns Kogan Mobile as ispONE calls in administrators

Customers of Kogan Mobile will be forced to find a new prepaid mobile supplier after Telstra today revealed its wholesale partner ispONE has entered voluntary administration.

ispONE was due to face off in court with Telstra tomorrow to sort out allegations of unconscionable conduct over wholesale rates.

Telstra was seeking to terminate its contract with ispONE, alleging the firm owed it around $12 million.

The case was today dismissed by Justice Pagone.

In a statement, Telstra said it had been advised ispONE had appointed Ferrier Hodgson as a voluntary administrator, with the administrator cancelling ispONE’s contracts for the supply of Telstra Wholesale pre-paid mobile products. 

As at writing, ispONE had not yet lodged an insolvency notice with ASIC.

Telstra said its wholesale division had entered into an interim agreement with Medion Australia for the supply of wholesale prepaid mobile services. Medion underpins ALDI Mobile.  

Telstra said it would not accept any requests for new Kogan Mobile services from ispONE, although customers 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,” Telstra group managing director Stuart Lee confirmed in a statement.

“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 they have time to choose their next steps,” he said. 

“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 suggested Kogan Mobile customers contact Kogan directly regarding their account, and advised there may be delays if large numbers of people attempt to switch providers at the same time. 

“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.”

A statement posted on the Telstra Wholesale website details how Kogan Mobile customers will be progressively moved to a limited '7 Day Plan'.

Kogan had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.