If you are with Kogan Mobile you may have received an email from them last week advising of a decision taken by Telstra Wholesale to shut the service down following an unresolved dispute it is having with ispONE, their reseller. The email included the following:
“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 apologize 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. You can read the whole announcement here.”
The decision is quite drastic but at this stage seems definite. For Aldi Mobile customers the news is much better. Medion Mobile, the organisation through which Aldi Mobile was providing its mobile services and the organisation that was dealing with ispONE, has negotiated a separate agreement directly with Telstra Wholesale which will see its services continue uncharged (for now anyway).
What Kogan has been able to negotiate is some leg room for you so that you can make a decision to move away from Kogan Mobile to a new provider. The question is who? The answer to this really depends on what type of plan you want at the moment.
Best Unlimited Prepaid Offers
If it is more of the same, ie an unlimited prepaid offer, then we recommend that you check out the following plans:
- Boost Mobile – Telstra NextG coverage, unlimited calls/TXT inc 1300 numbers and voicemail, 3GB data (charged p/MB). Cost $40 – 30 day expiry
- Amaysim Mobile – Optus network coverage, unlimited calls/TXT inc 1300 numbers and voicemail, 4GB data (charged p/MB) and unlimited Facebook/Twitter. Cost $39.90 – 30 day expiry
- Optus $2 Days – Optus network coverage, unlimited calls/TXT inc 1300 and voicemail, unlimited internet. Cost $2 per day – $30 buys 30 days credit.
There are more and you can check them all out here.
Best Prepaid $30 Cap
If you are looking to spend the same amount as you did with Kogan (about $30/mth) but are willing to use less calls and data, then consider the following plans:
- Optus Prepaid Social – Optus network coverage, 250 minutes to anyone, $30 credit, unlimited TXT, 500MB data and unlimited Facebook/Twitter (4G enabled). Cost $30 – 28 day expiry
- Virgin Your Cap $29 – Optus network coverage, $600 call credit and unlimited talk/TXT to Virgin, 1GB data. Cost $29 – 28 day expiry
- Telstra Prepaid Cap Encore – Telstra network coverage, $250 call credit and unlimited calls to anyone from 6pm – 6am, 400MB data (4G enabled). – Cost $30 – 30 day expiry
- Vodafone $30 Prepaid Cap – Vodafone network coverage, $450 call credit, unlimited TXT, 500MB. – Cost $30 – 28 day expiry
There are more and you can check them all out here.
Best PAYG Prepaid Plans
If you simply want to move away and decide on a more permanent plan later on, then consider one of the following PAYG plans:
- Amaysim PAYG – 12c/min, 12c TXT, 5c/MB – 90 days
- Dodo As You Go – 11c/min, 11c TXT, 5c MB – 60 days
- Hello Mobile Combo $10 – 10c/min, 12c TXT, 5c/MB – 30 days
There are more and you can check them all out here.
If you have had enough of prepaid and want more value without the pain of a contract, then consider a sim only no contract plan. We cover everyone of them too and you can compare the best of them here.
As always we are here to help answer any questions you might have on any prepaid mobile plan available in the market today. We are still the only website which compares them all for you.
