Koko Mobile / Naka

[kctopitz]

If that thanks was directed at me, I have to reject it, as I made no such suggestions about Naka. I only learned of these SIMs a few days ago. I did however add Koko to the wiki as I saw it wasn't mentioned. Perhaps I can add more info on it when I have time.

Good to know about the Drimsim app being not adequately translated into English. I also don't like the fact that there seems to be no way to access the account from the website. That alone may make me hold off on buying one for now.

[wolfbln]

The only problem is that there is no country list available for the packages of Koko Mobile. I know there was one online as mentioned by the user above.
I wonder why they have taken it off. The information of packages is nothing worth as long as they don't say for which countries.

[bourbonkiller]

Originally Posted by wolfbln

There is another string attached in their T&Cs that makes this Koko SIM quite unappealing for occasional users: "When using the SIM regularly it will not expire, but If you do not use the SIM card for a period of 120 days, a small monthly processing / number reservation fee (currently CHF 1.00) will be debited from the balance of the SIM from the 120 +1 day on. When the balance is completely consumed, the SIM card expires.

So when I'm low on balance after a trip and forget to replenish, my card will expire after 4 months only. A minimal use every 3 months or so is better than running into their inactivity fees and eventually shut-off.

I have activated one of their addon packages to keep the SIM valid for a year, eben without using it. It´s CHF 5 per year and can be booked within the customer zone.

Regarding Country List for packages. Maybe they still work on the website, but it lists all countries for packages at the moment!

[kctopitz]

Yup, Koko clearly just hadn't added the list of countries yet during the switch to the new page. Doing a quick comparison of data pricing between Koko's "World 1" packages and the pay as you go rates from DrimSIM, it really seems to depend on what country you'll be in to determine whether you're saving money by going with a Koko SIM and package. In certain countries, e.g. the US, Thailand and Ukraine, you'd be paying more per MB of data on the cheapest Koko "World 1" package. For others it's about the same, or there is a savings - again, assuming you use close to all the data in your package.

I saw that the minimum top-up for DrimSIM is 5€ which is nice. That, the lower upfront cost and the more lenient requirement of having some activity once per year makes it the more appealing offer for me for an international SIM. I've quoted the relevant section from their user agreement below.

7.3 In case of absence of activity from the side of the Subscriber (calls, messages, internet data sessions) on the activated SIM-card within 365 days, servicing of the SIM-card will not be terminated but starting with the 366-th day 0,5 € fee for reservation of subscriber's number will be written off monthly, if no further activity appears. If a zero balance is achieved the SIM-card shall not be used anymore and the subscriber's number shall not be renewed. Then the Agreement will be terminated without an ability to restore the Subscriber’s account. To avoid suspension of the subscriber's number operation within 365 days period it is necessary to carry out any of the following e.g. call, message, data session. Life time of non-activated SIM-card is not limited.

[123soleil]

i've been using koko for about a year and am generally quite satisfied. in my experience:

- In some countries it takes a while (several hours) to connect to the network. Sometimes forcing the profile helps but not always. I've had similar issues with togglemobile so maybe this is a problem with the "profiles" feature

- I had a problem in indonesia. It was impossible to connect. I contacted customer service by email and they replied very promptly (albeit during europe office hours only). After some standard back an fourth ("Did you restart your phone?", etc.) they realised they had a problem with their Indo provider. By the time it was fixed, i had already left the country.

- They have data only sim and data+voice sim. Annoyingly, the packages and prices are different. Data sim is logically better value for data. however some countires are available on voice sim package but missing on the data sim. So you need to either choose the sim wisely, or get both sims.

- I once had 9.98.- on my account and tried to buy a 9.90 package. This wasn't possible. I think there is a bug whereby you have to have 10.- on the account.

- Per mb rates are not too bad. for same price as 500mb package you can get around 200mb on per mb rate. The advantage of per mb is that it lasts longer than 30 days which is ideal if only using whatsapp.

- Unfortunately, it doenst seem possible to use VOIP fonctionality with the data sim. This is kind of annoying because there is no technical reason not to include voip on the data sim (since voip doesnt actually use voice calls). So that is another reason to get both sims.

- The "my account" page is quite impressive for a budget telco. There are a lot of options and things you can manage (sms notifications, call forwarding, websms, etc.).

[GadgetKen]

Worked in Bermuda with ssid manual string call back.

Short stop in Canada YYZ airport on way back to US would not work on Koko. But SkyRoam data did work so used Skype voip to call home.

When arrived back in US Koko did not auto connect but search for carriers and manual choice of AT&T 4G got a direct dial connect.

Bottom line is Koko is not perfect but worked most of the time on my trip.

[kctopitz]

Originally Posted by wolfbln

Besides DrimSIM from Russia which i sometimes use for the low per-MB rate until a get a local SIM...

wolfbln, if you get a chance, I'm curious to know what network DrimSIM roams on in Germany. I've had some bad experience roaming on O2 in rural areas (getting a 2G signal but mobile data never working).

[prion1]

Originally Posted by bourbonkiller

I have activated one of their addon packages to keep the SIM valid for a year, eben without using it. It´s CHF 5 per year and can be booked within the customer zone.

Regarding Country List for packages. Maybe they still work on the website, but it lists all countries for packages at the moment!

Is this for the data sim or the normal sim?
Does it state it somewhere on the website that they extend validity for one year?

[bourbonkiller]

@prion1, I do have a Koko Voice Sim, the options is CHF 5.00 for 365 days. It can be enabled in the customer zone, description as follows:

"Extend the SIM validity period by one year if the card is no longer used. Your SIM card will not expire, even if it is no longer used, as long as this option remains activated. Costs are charged annually in advance and reduced from the currently available balance, regardless of the current status of the SIM card.

billing information: clearing type - recurrently; billing period - 365 days"

[bourbonkiller]

A short update on my Koko-Mobile Simcard, roaming in UK beginning of this month.

I've been to several areas around London and Surrey beginning of July. Had my Koko Simcard with me in a iPhone SE. After deactivating flight mode, the network it connects automatically is "3 Three UK". As suspected following the LTE coverage list in the customer zone, it is only 3G no LTE. Tried also to log in to EE which worked like a charm. The Simcard got a Sim-Update and it changes the profile from the Israel Provider (for Switzerland) to polish Play Provider when roaming in UK.

I have two Numbers active in addition to the Jersey Number the card comes with. When calling from a UK mobile to Koko (it was a UK 3 card) there is a voice message announcing the rates will be higher than standard UK mobile phones. The Swiss landline DID seems to perform rock solid, I never had problems reaching the Simcard through DID.

When dialing the German mobile number it sometimes happens that I get a message, that the Koko Mobile subscriber is not reachable at the moment. This mostly happens, when I've called the Swiss DID, hung up and dialed the German number immediately. If you wait some time, it works. It looks like the German number is forwarding and thinks, the line is still busy. It never happened when dialing the jersey number directly.

Interestingly, all of my available Swiss and Austrian Mobile provider can reach the jersey number without any problems, no provider seems to block the Koko Mobile number. Compared to the UK number I've got with XXSim this is a big plus, because the XXSim UK number can not be reached with all providers (Salt CH, Skype)

I got to love my Swiss DID which is a little bit costly with CHF 5 per month, but I can route my own localphone.com numbers (landline numbers) at the cost of a landline call (0.01 USD) and even route my Swiss business mobile (which can only forward to Swiss and Liechtenstein numbers) free of charge. Combined with free incoming calls (outside EU/worldwide) on Koko Mobile, this is very attractive and makes Koko Mobile a no-brainer for me, compared to other roaming SIM cards with Estonian Mobile numbers (used XXSim before).