The planned launch of an ‘unlimited’ mobile phone plan by Kogan Mobile was agreed to by both ispONE and its network partner Telstra, the court case between ispONE and Kogan Mobile has heard.
ispONE is countersuing Kogan Mobile in the Supreme Court of Victoria, following a dispute over when it was appropriate for ispONE to boot customers off the network for overuse.
ispONE claims the use of the term ‘unlimited’ without proper qualification meant Kogan Mobile was engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct, in breach of the pair’s master wholesale agreement.
Counsel representing Kogan Mobile, Norman O’Bryan SC, yesterday alleged the offer of an unlimited plan was actually proposed by ispONE, and was contemplated from the very beginning when Kogan was seeking a partner through which to offer phone plans.
Kogan Mobile has tendered into evidence several emails between its executives and ispONE in which the Telstra reseller repeatedly uses the word ‘unlimited’. It claims an ispONE executive discussed the need for aggressive pricing to compete with the likes of Amaysim and Red Bull Mobile, which also offer ‘unlimited’ plans.
O’Bryan argued even ispONE’s own retail brand, ONEmobile, offered an ‘unlimited’ plan, a term in common use by telecommunications providers.
“There is nothing misleading or deceptive about using the claim ‘unlimited’ … If properly explained,” O’Bryan argued. He pointed out all of the telecommunications providers offering unlimited plans included some sort of qualification or acceptable use policy to qualify the term.
O’Bryan argued while ispONE had on several occasions claimed breaches of the acceptable use policy, it had never objectively justified its claim of breach, nor presented evidence of breaches.
He also said ispONE continued to threaten to cut off people from the network, and was doing so as recently as last week.
The case continues.
