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 record my first impressions of the discount brand launched by Telus last month.

This being Canada, there’s not a ton of things that make Koodo different from its youth brand competitors Rogers/Fido and Bell/Virgin Mobile/Solo. Anyway, kudos to Telus for picking itself off up the mat after the $7.5-million it injected into Amp’d Mobile as part of a larger partnership. Koodo looks like it’ll be a winner.

Koodo is a far smarter way to appeal to Canadian youths though it does seem like it was launched belatedly. How long have Solo, Virgin Mobile and Fido been in Canada?

Anyway, there are some notable points that are noteworthy.

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) Branding. It’s not my style but I can see why the TV ads might appeal to youth.

3 Things I Don’t Really Like 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 which will bear the worthiness of the name out over time.

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.

[tags] Telus, Koodo, cell phone service [/tags]