Koodo Mobile: Telus’ New Discount Cell Phone Brand?

6:15 am on December 17, 2007 | Category: Business, Cell Phones, Telecom Services, Wireless

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Analysts are speculating that Canadian carrier, Telus Corp., will launch a new discount cell phone brand next year, after registering the business name “Koodo Mobile” with various provincial governments in recent months.

Telus registered the Koodo brand in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in August, and in Saskatchewan last month. It also acquired the domain name, koodomobile.ca, earlier this year.

Company spokesman, Jim Johannsson, acknowledged that Telus has considered launching a second wireless brand, but declined to comment specifically on Koodo.

Telus’ main competitors in the cell phone market, Rogers Wireless and Bell Mobility, both have separate, youth-oriented wireless brands (Fido and Solo, respectively), and many analysts believe that Telus could appeal to a wider user base by following suit.

“Alternate brands are all the rage,” commented SeaBoard Group telecom analyst, Iain Grant. “It allows you to do all sorts of things [for different groups] without diminishing the power of your principal brand.”

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    1. I just switched to koodo. I was stuck in a Bell Mobility contract and they wanted $200 to get out! My first thought was WTH!? I tried speaking to 2 employees but they did not help.
      Then I turned to a pretty cool site to get out of my contract http://www.cellplandepot.com. They are a contract swapping site. Pretty cool and effective website. It was free for me to try out and post my contract details. I tried on http://www.sellcellplans.com and it wasn’t as good.

      Comment by chris — April 3, 2008 #

    2. It’s normal to be bound by contract with service providers. You usually pay less or nothing to get the cellphone just as long as you stay with the company for so many years. You sign the contract agreeing to the terms, so why complain about being stuck afterwards? The company gives you a phone at a low cost or in some cases for free and logically they expect something for you which in this case would be up to 3 years of fidelity. I don’t know much about this Koodo company but snce they are using Telus’ network then chances are they won’t be any better in terms of network coverage or customer support.

      Comment by Alice — April 6, 2008 #

    3. Alice, alice… it would be good to read this article prior giving any comments.

      “…Analysts are speculating that Canadian carrier, Telus Corp., will launch a new discount cell phone brand next year, after registering the business name “Koodo Mobile” with various provincial governments in recent months…”

      You said, you “…don’t know much about Koodo company…” Koodo is not a company, Koodo is new cell phone brand. This is Telus, and nothing is wrong with their service. You probably work for Rogers (yuck) or Bell, so your comments are understandable…. not!

      Comment by HeyAlice — April 6, 2008 #

    4. koodo has great custom plans with no contract and you can cancel anytime and no credit check if you buy the phone at full price … no roaming fees or activation fees.

      Comment by john — April 18, 2008 #

    5. Finally! I had waited for a Non-Shark-Company to which I shall pay only for my usage rather than signing my life away… I am E-mailing my friends right now to let them know that a brand, out there, cut FatFees – BRAVO!

      It reminds me when Air Canada (and other carriers) end up by realizing – after many years of deep-thinking-marketing – that it is better to sell many discounted seats betwwen Toronto & Montreal than fewer at high prices.

      P.S. I do not work for nobody but myself; self-employes who try to make ends meet

      Comment by Richard — April 21, 2008 #

    6. I’m not a fan of Telus, but they’re really trying hard to get brand-loyalty from youths, so when they get older, they stick to Telus… Koodo is a loss-leader of sorts for them, which is why it’s such a good deal.

      Comment by G-moon — April 22, 2008 #

    7. I would say “finally, competition to the crappy cell found scoundrals… Bell, Rogers, TELUS” … but alas, Koodo is in fact Telus… ahh well, I’m gonna give them a try anyway… really can’t lose.

      Comment by Lucky Englishman — April 24, 2008 #

    8. It is great that Telus is introducing Koodo, as it makes the current telecommunication market some what more competitive. Hopefully this will lunch a whole new wave of better deals offered by all telecommunications companies.

      Comment by Samantha — April 28, 2008 #

    9. I just about signed on for Koodo, but I took the plunge and signed a contract with Solo instead. Their text and talk plans seem to offer more and they’re not charging me the monthly access fee. I would have preferred the tab policy over the cancellation policy, but I’m happy otherwise over all…

      Comment by Dale — May 1, 2008 #

    10. as far as i was concerned there is no system acess fee for koodo either

      Comment by Tanner — May 2, 2008 #

    11. These koodo plans seem alright….as long as you dont have to call customer service. I was just reading on their website that calling customer service will cost you anywhere from $10 – $40 per call

      Comment by leoquinn2001 — May 21, 2008 #

    12. my daughter is working at Koodo and the are not paying there staff properly!!!

      Comment by Gerry — June 9, 2008 #

    13. I’m Registered with Koodo, and I have to say, the experience so far has been great! They DO Charge for Customer service, but only for things which you can do yourself online! Anything that you can’t do online is free of charge. For example, I lost my phone, and had to suspend my service. I logged on online, and was able to suspend it INSTANTLY. Luckily I was an Idiot, and had left it at home. So I went back online, and restarted it! Brilliant!

      This online system is great, and is a great cost saving measure for Telus. Good Job Guys.

      Comment by Neil — November 28, 2008 #

    14. I feel that Telus should be required to include that they own Koodo. As a consumer that does everything possible to avoid giving Telus money (I have plenty of horror stories) just changing a brand name is a joke. They should not be aloud to avoid all the bad PR they have generated. Another idea from their sleazy leadership, I’m sure.

      Comment by Christopher Moreno — December 2, 2008 #

    15. What a deal it never occurred to me that such a plan could happen without all the extras Thank you!

      Comment by Ronald — December 23, 2008 #

    16. I was a Virgin Mobile customer until I had to use there customer service, it was absolutely horrendous. I was basically yelled at, because I did not know you had to have a min 50 cent balance after your plan to be able to use the service. Anyways they forced me to leave them with there ignorancce and lack of empathy. So I will see what Koodos is all about and will let you know once I have there service.

      Does anyone know if Koodos outsources there support oversees I hope not, we need the jobs here in North America

      Comment by Jonathon Tsamantanis — April 3, 2009 #

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