Kogan Mobile rejigs acceptable use policy ahead of price changes
Following the company's recent spat with wholesale provider ISPOne, Kogan Mobile has adjusted its terms and conditions ahead of a scheduled mobile plan overhaul in August.
Ruslan Kogan's mobile company Kogan Mobile took ISPOne to court in April, alleging that the Telstra wholesaler had breached the master wholesale agreement between the two companies because it had suspended over 700 customers who were flagged by ISPOne as using too much data — over 400MB per day on more than two days in a month — or making too many phone calls in a short time frame.
ISPOne was ultimately found to be in breach of its obligations in the Master Wholesale Agreement between the telco and Kogan Mobile, and was ordered to pay Kogan Mobile's costs.
In the midst of the court case, Kogan Mobile was forced to revise its acceptable use policy to put the data and call limits that ISPOne had requested into effect. This included downloading or uploading more than 400MB on more than two days in a 30-day period, or downloading or uploading more than 1GB on a single day.
Although victorious in the courts, Kogan Mobile appears to be refining its acceptable use policy even farther. Last week, the company began informing customers that from August 1, customers who signed up after March 22, or have topped up their service after that date even through auto-recharge services, will be subject to a new policy.
This policy includes many of the same restrictions around data usage, but also classifies maintaining a continuous packet data session for 12 hours or more on a single day on two or more days in a three-day period as unreasonable use for the service.
The change in policy has caused concern on broadband forum Whirlpool, with suggestions that users could get caught by the 12-hour packet data session clause just through regular use of their smartphone.
The acceptable use policy states that customers who have breached the policy can have their service suspended, limited, or terminated.
The policy shift comes as Kogan looks to be gearing up to overhaul its mobile plans in August. The Kogan Mobile website describes the current pricing as being a "special offer" that is only valid until the end of this month.
A spokesperson for Kogan Mobile had no comment to add on the change in policy, and no additional information on the new mobile plans.
According to a Kogan Mobile spokesperson on Whirlpool, the company will still have the "best prepaid prices in Australia".
On the back of its dispute with ISPOne, Kogan Mobile was the target of 312 complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman in the first three months of 2013.