Koodo Mobile

Koodo Mobile is a Canadian mobile flanker brand started by Telus in 2008 and mostly oriented toward younger customers. Koodo differs from its parent Telus by not requiring a fixed term contract. Koodo currently provides postpaid, prepaid, and wireless home phone services. Being a subsidiary of Telus,Koodo Mobile
Koodo Mobile Standard Warranty
Retrieved on August 10th, 2010. Koodo has been able to offer extensive coverage and a strong presence in mobile retailers. This allowed Koodo to gain a presence nationwide.

The brand name is a variation of the Ancient Greek word "'' κῦδος''" (the ascendant to the English word "kudos"), meaning "praise, renown, glory" and more recently "acclaim for something well done".

History

Amp'd Mobile (2007)

Telus Mobility's competitor, Bell Mobility, had an MVNO partnership with Virgin Group to create Virgin Mobile Canada. This brand was in operation since 2005, and it mainly targeted high school, college, and university students. In response, Telus Mobility had a similar but much shorter partnership with the American Amp'd Mobile in 2007 to create a Canadian MVNO. It was ended because the Amp'd Mobile operations in the United States suffered from poor customer service and bankruptcy. This meant that unlike Bell, Telus no longer had a mobile brand targeting students.

Koodo Mobile launches (2008-2009)

Nearly a year after the launch day of Amp'd Mobile in Canada, Telus launched Koodo Mobile on March 17, 2008, in Canada. This mobile brand provided services at a lower cost than most other companies.

BlackBerry and transition to HSPA+ (2010)

Many customers at Koodo requested the addition of full QWERTY keyboard devices to facilitate text input for SMS and Internet-based tasks such as email and social networking services. On May 25, 2010, Koodo launched their first smartphone, the BlackBerry Curve 8530. The following month, Koodo released the Nokia 3710 as their first HSPA+ device on June 28, 2010. After this date, the company gradually started to discontinue sales of CDMA devices.

HSPA+ smartphones and Canada-wide monthly plans (2011)

Half a dozen of HSPA+ smartphones were released in 2011. The first was the LG Optimus One, launched on March 2. Later that month, the BlackBerry Curve 9300 was available starting March 23. The Nexus S was added to Koodo's lineup on April 12, 2011. In order to prepare for the back-to-school season, Koodo discontinued sales of all CDMA devices near the end of June 2011, less than a year after the carrier launched their first HSPA device. Shortly thereafter, they were replaced by the iPhone 4 and two low-cost Android devices.

Products

Koodo's product lineup mainly consists of smartphones but also includes a few feature phones. Smartphones are currently sold with one of two operating systems preloaded: Android or iOS. Koodo currently carries phones from Alcatel, Apple, Blackberry, Essential, Google, Huawei, LG, and Samsung.

All devices carried by Koodo are, or at least previously were, also available at Telus Mobility.

Services

Data services

With Shock-Free Data, you can purchase 300 MB for $12 or 1 GB for $22. As well, you can use your plans' pay-per-use rate which currently sits at 100 MB for $7 but older plans may have different rates.

Koodo started offering eSIM on its plans on January 9, 2020. Customers with the eSIM enabled devices and smartphones can purchase the eSIM voucher online and connect to the network.

Koodo announced they will be launching the VoLTE and WiFi calling to their customer, enabling more features of their products to their customer.

Telus announced on February 16, 2022, that new Koodo Mobile subscribers and those who change plans to a new 4G plan will now have a speed cap of 100 Mbps, while consumers on the company's older 4G LTE plans do not have a speed limit. The announcement happened the same day Telus announced similar data speed caps on their plans.

Koodo Tab

Instead of a fixed term contract, Koodo Mobile uses a system called the Tab. A credit check is necessary prior to activation. For a new customer, a small tab takes up to $240 off the price of a new cell phone, a medium takes up to $360, and a large covers up to $504. Said amount is then applied as an interest-free loan to the customer's account. Customers will be billed the dollar amount on the tab over a 24-month period interest-free, unless they cancel their service with Koodo Mobile. Anyone using the Tab can pay off the remaining amount and keep the phone if they decide to leave.Koodo Mobil
Koodo Tab
Retrieved on August 10th, 2010.

Reception

The success Koodo received in its first year of operation, with its simple plan lineup and lack of carrier-charged system access and 911 fees, prompted competitors Rogers Wireless and Bell Mobility to mimic Koodo's monthly plans via their mobile brands: Fido Solutions for Rogers, and Virgin Mobile for Bell Mobility. These changes happened on November 4, 2008, for Fido. Following Bell's complete acquisition of Virgin Mobile Canada in May 2009, the Virgin brand mimicked several of Koodo's monthly plans in 2010.

Similarly, when Koodo launched its new Canada-wide plans on July 21, 2011, they were once again mimicked by other mobile brands. Virgin initially offered long distance as a $10 add-on on September 7, 2011, but reduced this fee to $5 about a week later on September 16, and removed it altogether on October 4.

Controversy

Discontinuation of per-second billing

Numerous current and prospective Koodo customers became disappointed and frustrated with the removal of per-second billing on Koodo Mobile's February 2012 monthly voice plans. Customers were given no advance warnings of these changes, although a third-party blog did provide a leaked brochure of the new per-minute plans. These plans cost $5/month more than their previous counterpart and include the caller ID and voicemail features, but are billed per minute instead of per second. One of the five plans was also lowered to 100 minutes instead of the 150 previously included, but the backlash to this change prompted the company to reverse this decision. Customers on Koodo's Facebook profile and the operator's Get Satisfaction Internet forum criticized the removal of per-second billing, perceiving it as "one step forward, two steps back". Existing customers with old plans are grandfathered with per-second billing, but will receive per-minute billing if they change their plan. There are currently over 100 frustrated customers voicing their support for per-second billing, some threatening to leave the operator. An April Fools' Day spoof joking about Koodo billing per hour has also been posted by the thread's creator.

Advertising

Koodo Mobile currently has Toronto-based Camp Jefferson (formerly DARE Toronto) as its advertising agency. This team launched Koodo Mobile's "Choose Happy" campaign on April 20, 2015. The brand uses bright and punchy colours with vivid imagery and playful animations.
Previously, advertising efforts were handled by Taxi 2 in Toronto. This team developed the El Tabador character, starting March 2010, to promote the Koodo Tab. The character is a masked male lucha libre wrestler, who has been featured in billboards and also on animated TV ads.

The character was discontinued as part of a brand refresh that occurred in 2015, as part of the provider's new campaign "Choose Happy".

See also

* List of Canadian mobile phone companies

References

External links

Koodo Mobile

{{Telus

Canadian brands
Mobile phone companies of Canada
Telecommunications companies of Canada
Telus
Telecommunications companies established in 2008