Koodo Mobile: 3 things I kinda like & 3 things i hate

Now that the Koodo Mobile youth-oriented wireless service is available, I thought it’d be a good time to generate first impressions of the pseudo-MVNO launched by Telus last month.

This being Canada, there’s not a ton different about Koodo than its youth brand competitors Rogers/Fido and Bell/Virgin Mobile/Solo. Kudos to Telus for picking itself off up the mat after the $7.5-million it injected into Amp’d Mobile and the subsequent partnership it struck blew up in its face last year.

Koodo looks like a far smarter way to appeal to Canadian youths though the timing does seem kinda odd. How long have Solo, Virgin Mobile and Fido been in Canada?

Anyway, there are some notable points I felt merited commentary.

3 things I kinda like about Koodo.

1) Long distance prices. Telus, er, Koodo, has pushed the envelope in so far as a Canadian carrier pushes the envelope on prices with its wireless rates - Koodo offers a $20 unlimited Canadian wireless long distance plan. Considering the fact a call from Toronto to Burlington, Ont., a suburb, is considered LD by the carriers, that’s a decent plan.

2) Koodo’s Web site. It’s simple and easy to use; a nice change from the mazes its parent Telus and the other national wireless carriers have constructed for users that want to find information.

3) I can’t think of another one.

3 Things I HATE About Koodo

1) The ads; they are borderline deceitful. Unless you’re going to offer serious overall discounts to competitors, please don’t pretend like my bills are going to be significantly better.

2) The handsets. They are in a word awful. Koodo by my count offers exactly three handsets; Motorola’s w385 and the MotoKRZR as well as Samsung’s U410, not exactly selling points for the iPhone generation. Barf in fact. To be fair the handset selection from Solo and Virgin Mobile isn’t much better.

3) Lastly, the name kinda annoys me. I’m probably not in the target demographic of Koodo/Telus but it really does seem kinda silly. I’m sure the company has done extensive market research to test the veracity of its new youth brand.

Overall, Koodo seems like a ‘me-too’ service, that will nonetheless help Telus bring some youth into the fold. If Telus wants to make some wireless noise, it needs to better differentiate the Koodo offering from Fido, Solo and Virgin Mobile.

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April 8, 2008 | Filed Under News Items and Commentary 

Comments

3 Responses to “Koodo Mobile: 3 things I kinda like & 3 things i hate”

  1. Roman on April 13th, 2008 7:20 pm

    I have been writing a post about Koodo and found yours through TweetScan. I totally agree with it and I don’t even see the point in investing so much in creating something that obviously nothing more than marketing. They should have invested in creating something that creates value. Like unlimited internet surfing on Iphone or blackberry.

  2. Koodo Mobile vs. Rogers Wireless | romanz.org on April 14th, 2008 1:16 pm

    […] Koodo Mobile: three things I kinda like and 3 things I hate. […]

  3. A Abdo on August 30th, 2008 3:01 am

    I just got a phone for my wife from Koodo, our requirements was International texting and this was offered to us for an extra fee. However few days later and my wife is able to send International text, but could not receive from any of her friends around the world. So we are very disappointed, we were sold on a feature that does not work. I will try to see if Koodo have any solution for us, it looks like I have to cancel this cell phone account.
    #

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