Koodo Mobile
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Koodo Mobile is a Canadian mobile flanker brand started by
Telus Telus may refer to: * Telus Corporation, a Canadian publicly traded holding company ** Telus Communications, a telecommunications company ** Telus Digital, a technology company ** Telus Health, a health technology provider ** Telus Mobility T ...
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 The postpaid mobile phone is a mobile phone for which service is provided by a prior arrangement with a mobile network operator. The user in this situation is billed after the fact according to their use of mobile services at the end of each mont ...
, 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 Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
word "'' κῦδος''" (the ascendant to the English word "
kudos Kudos may refer to: * ''Kudos'' (computer game), a life simulation game produced by Positech Games * Kudos (production company), a UK-based film and television production company * Kudos, a fictional currency used by the Dwellers in '' The Alge ...
"), meaning "praise, renown, glory" and more recently "acclaim for something well done".


History


Amp'd Mobile (2007)

Telus Mobility Telus Mobility (normally typeset as TELUS Mobility) is a Canadian Mobile network operator, wireless network operator and a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its network. It operates 5G+, 5G, LTE (telecom ...
's competitor,
Bell Mobility Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on ...
, had an
MVNO A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...
partnership with
Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding compa ...
to create
Virgin Mobile Canada Virgin Plus is a Canadian provider of Postpaid mobile phone, postpaid and Prepaid mobile phone, prepaid wireless voice, text and data communications services throughout Canada. They also offer home Internet and TV services in select areas of On ...
. 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
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 QWERTY ( ) is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top letter row of the keyboard: . The QWERTY design is based on a layout included in the Sh ...
keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...
devices to facilitate text input for
SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...
and Internet-based tasks such as
email Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...
and
social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...
s. 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+ HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment * Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school * Hunte ...
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 A dozen (commonly abbreviated doz or dz) is a grouping of twelve. The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive integer groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the Moon, or months, in a cycle of the Sun, or year ...
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 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the iPhone 4s. Following a number of notable leaks, ...
and two low-cost Android devices.


Products

Koodo's product lineup mainly consists of
smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s but also includes a few
feature phone Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature recognition, could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (machine learning), in statistics: individual measurable properties of the phenome ...
s. Smartphones are currently sold with one of two operating systems preloaded: Android or
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
. 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 Telus Mobility (normally typeset as TELUS Mobility) is a Canadian Mobile network operator, wireless network operator and a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its network. It operates 5G+, 5G, LTE (telecom ...
.


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 Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of just under $15.1 billion in ...
and
Bell Mobility Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on ...
to mimic Koodo's monthly plans via their mobile brands:
Fido Solutions Fido Solutions Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator owned by Rogers Communications. Since its acquisition by Rogers in 2004, it has operated as a Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using the Rogers Wireless network. Fido pioneered th ...
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 Virgin Plus is a Canadian provider of Postpaid mobile phone, postpaid and Prepaid mobile phone, prepaid wireless voice, text and data communications services throughout Canada. They also offer home Internet and TV services in select areas of On ...
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 Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is ...
and
voicemail A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows callers to leave a recorded message when the recipient has been unable (or unwilling) to answer the phone. Calls may be directed to voicemail m ...
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 Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
profile and the operator's
Get Satisfaction Get Satisfaction was a customer community software platform for technical support based in San Francisco, California, San Francisco, California, United States. It was founded on January 31, 2007, by several people, including Lane Becker, Amy Mull ...
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 April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. ...
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 An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...
. 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 ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...
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 As of March 2021, there are over 33 million wireless subscriptions in Canada. Approximately 90% of Canadian mobile phone users subscribe to one of the four largest national telecommunication companies (Rogers Wireless, Telus Mobility, Bell Mobil ...


References


External links


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