Koko Mobile / Naka

[GadgetKen]

I am in Bermuda. Although my Skyroam mifi says I am in Jamaica and my Koko mobile SIM card welcomed me to Antigua and Barbuda. Skyroam works fine and Koko is working by USSD call back dialing but not by direct dial. Koko is on Digicel rather than Cellone. Voice quality is high.

Not sure if I want to add a US number to Koko because primarily use for voice and roaming rates in US are cheaper for the JT number.

[bourbonkiller]

Finally email support fixed my error with VoIP login on Saturday within hour, very prompt! Tried out the VoIP feature which is for outgoing calls only (no incoming like on old piranha).

It seems that calls not answered get billed for the first minute on VoIP, whereas calls from the SIM card are not getting billed for unanswered calls.

I took my phone out for testing network registration, this works very good. Only problem I can tell is with LTE networks. It seems, even with data switched off on the phone, there is a LTE Ghost traffic of 50kb increments which sometimes get billed and sometimes not. It didn't occur any more when switching to 3G only.

Looking up the apple App Store, there is also a app to handle customer zone on the mobile, it is called noi box.

[wolfbln]

Besides DrimSIM from Russia which i sometimes use for the low per-MB rate until a get a local SIM, Koko Mobile seems to be an interesting choice. It's by far the best priced Naka product with monthly packages.

I still have issues with DrimSIM about their different network profiles which have to be changed through the Toolkits app. You never know which to choose. "EU" is for most EU countries which makes sense, but "Oris" is for major EU countries like France, Greece, Austria or Italy. You don't know which to choose (DrimSIM doesn't name the country/profile matches) and trying out all profiles when entering a new country is annoying.

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.

[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, Koko Mobile seems to be an interesting choice. It's by far the best priced Naka product with monthly packages.

First, thanks for all your work on the prepaid data SIM wiki. It's a resource I use often, and I often refer others to it.

Koko may offer the best priced packages of the Naka SIMs that offer packages (DrimSIM doesn't), but it's debatable as to whether you'd be saving any money with them. For example, the cheapest Koko data package, for their data SIM only (no voice), is the EU PLUS package at CHF 5.90 - about 5.11 Euro at today's rates - for 500MB. That's slightly more than 1 cent per MB, which is what you'd pay with the DrimSIM for pay-as-you-go data. So at least in the case of light data use in the EU, DrimSIM makes more sense. Even with the largest Koko data package (~€20.71/2500MB) for the EU, you're only getting down to .8 cent per MB, so not a huge savings, especially when you factor in that you probably won't use all the data in 30 days (so each MB effectively costs more) or you'll go over and pay 5 cents per additional MB (their rate in most EU countries I think).

As mentioned, those packages are for the data SIM only. If you want a Koko voice/data SIM (as the DrimSIM is), the data packages cost more, e.g. €6.93 for the 500MB package, so the DrimSIM becomes the clear winner - at least in the EU, though I'm guessing this may be true for all their packages. It's hard to say right now since it looks like Koko just updated their website, and the data packages no longer list which countries are in the other "Global" packages.

Since you have a DrimSIM maybe you can answer: does it include the option to add an additional number, e.g. a German or US number? Is there a cost for it?

[wolfbln]

Hi. Thanks for all your advice. I re-grouped the Naka section in the prepaid wiki according to your suggestion. Now Koko and DrimSIM are both featured. The one for its packages, the other for the low per-MB rate.

With DrimSIM is hard to get decent support as it's very Russian. Many messenges, websites, part of the app are nor or poorly translated. And when you like to talk to an agent, it's a hit and miss whether he/she speaks sufficient English.

So I cant really tell you whether you can add local numbers. But I guess not. In all what is accessible in English there is no hint of it. Also no dual pricing like on other Naka products. On the other side, I can't rule that completely out as lots of information is available in Russian only.

[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!

[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?

[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).