Vodafone could be facing a huge problem as the class action lawsuit bid over its poor network reception has now grown to 23,000 claimants with more litigants coming forward since the start of the campaign earlier in December last year.
The last update on numbers we had were 9,000 in January.
The lawsuit, started by Piper Alderman, confirmed the numbers to The Australian, and is currently finding ways to raise money to bring the class action against the third-largest mobile provider to court.
The suit is based on allegations that Vodafone made false claims about the capacity of its 3G network as far as 2007. Sasha Ivanstoff, partner for Piper Alderman, has said that it could also add Vodafone Hutchison Australia, the new parent company after the merger between Vodafone and 3, to the suit if sufficient evidence is found, and could also extend the allegations to its data, email and voicemail.
Vodafone’s network has been a big PR disaster for the company, with a website dedicated in reporting the network failures of Vodafone – Vodafail – was set up. As well, the company has since been mocked online due to their performance.
While the company is fixing up its network in order to provide service, many have jumped ship to other carriers – especially with Telstra, with reports that even its network – yes, the NextG network, which is reported to be the best network in Australia – is having a tough time due to the number of ex-Vodafone customers. It also doesn’t help when Vodafone’s entire network in Queensland went offline during the Queensland floods.
Telstra has told ZDNet Australia that they will be increasing capacity to cope with the amount of subscribers, which has jumped to 41 percent. At least they are responding it to now rather than six months of ignoring it – like Vodafone. In addition, Optus, who is also experiencing problems with reception, have also undertaken upgrades to its network..