Provisional Liquidator Appointed to iD Mobile – What’s Next for its 40,000 Customers

Yesterday afternoon, iD Mobile announced that it is going into liquidation, and will cease all operations in Ireland from 6 April. iD has 40,000 customers in Ireland and says it will contact them by “text, letter and email” over the coming days.

Call, text and data services will be provided to these customers free of charge for the next month, and anyone on a pre-pay plan can also continue to use their credit until this time. However, according to the iD website, customers who have an outstanding balance on an equipment contract for a phone or mobile broadband device will need to continue to make payments until this balance is cleared.

iD Mobile offered a range of flexible plans and allowed customers to keep their phone and service contracts separate, meaning customers didn’t continue paying a monthly charge for their handset once the value of the device was cleared. Although only a small number of providers – including Virgin Mobile – operate in this way, there are many that offer SIM-only plans, which could work for anyone who has this type of plan with iD and doesn’t want to enter a long contract with a new provider.

Any iD customer who doesn’t switch to a new provider before 6 April will be left without service and risks being unable to keep the same phone number going forward.

iD operated on the Three network, so customers who were happy with the coverage they got with iD will get similar from Three itself, or from other MVNOs operating on the Three network – Lycamobile, Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile.

Eoin Clarke, Managing Director of Switcher.ie, said: “iD provided a valuable, low-cost, service to its 40,000 customers, and it’s a real shame to see it shutting down operations here and leaving these customers without a provider.

“From commentary online, we know that what iD’s customers loved the most was the value-for-money they got from their plans. The good news is that there is so much choice on the mobile market at the moment, with SIM-only plans starting from as low as €10 per month, so there is definitely still value out there. We’ve also already seen eir offering a new plan exclusively for iD customers, and it’s possible other providers will follow suit.

“The important thing now is that these people act quickly to ensure they have time to find a new plan that works for them. On top of this, anyone who waits until after 6 April risks being left without service and unable to keep their number, so we would encourage people to switch before this date to ensure they’re not left without vital service.”

Customers can compare SIM-only mobile plans using Switcher.ie’s free comparison tool, available at https://switcher.ie/mobiles/