What is Kogan Mobile and What Plans Does it Offer?

Kogan Mobile arrived in the local market towards the end of 2019, styling itself as a challenger brand poised to shake things up with a competitive alternative for Kiwi phone users. Its prepay plans come packaged with unlimited standard calls and texts to New Zealand and Australia, along with a range of data limits.

Using Vodafone 4G network, Kogan Mobile’s service allows for customers to pair their plan with a range of data, international calls and roaming add-ons.

In the following guide, we take a look at:

• What is Kogan Mobile?
• Kogan Mobile plans
• Add-ons from Kogan Mobile
• Kogan Mobile features
• Getting started with Kogan Mobile
• How does Kogan Mobile compare

What is Kogan Mobile?

Kogan Mobile is a relatively new participant in the local mobile market. Drawing on its experience in the Australian market, it partnered with Vodafone to launch a prepay mobile offering in 2015. Since then, it’s attracted thousands of Kiwis to its online-only digital service.

Kogan Mobile is part of ASX-listed ecommerce company Kogan.com’s portfolio of businesses, which also includes online retailers Dick Smith and Mighty Ape, the winner of Canstar Blue’s 2021 award for Most Satisfied Customers | Online Retailers.

Kogan Mobile plans

Kogan Mobile’s prepay offerings cover a range of small, medium and large plans, which run over 30- and 365-day periods.

Each small, medium and large plan comes with unlimited calls and texts to standard New Zealand and Australian numbers when in New Zealand, plus a data allowance.

Kogan Mobile’s plans do not come with rollover data. And its 365-day plan data allocations are divided into 30-day blocks.

30-day plans

365-day plans

Kogan Mobile add-ons

Kogan Mobile offers a selection of data, international calls and international roaming add-ons. These can be paired as needed with its small, medium and large 30-day or 365-day plans.

The international calls add-on is valid for 44 destinations. The international roaming add-ons are valid for 56 destinations (the Kogan Mobile website provides a rundown of available destinations for each add-on).

Data add-ons

International calls add-on

International roaming add-ons

Kogan Mobile features

If you’re thinking of signing up with Kogan Mobile, it’s worthwhile checking out the plans and add-ons on offer. Plus the full scope of available services.

The following are some of the notable features of Kogan Mobile’s prepay plans:

• BYO device – Kogan Mobile says that provided a device is not locked to another network, most smartphones and tablets will work with its service
• Number transfer (porting) – consumers have the option of transferring (porting) their existing number to Kogan Mobile
• Vodafone 4G – the Vodafone 4G network that Kogan Mobile uses covers 96% of the New Zealand population
• Hotspot – mobile hotspotting/tethering can be used with all Kogan Mobile plans
• Voicemail – charges are included with all Kogan Mobile plans
• Customer dashboard – consumers can access account information online and manage their account via the Kogan Mobile customer dashboard
• App – the Kogan Mobile app (available for Android and iOS devices) allows account monitoring and management
• Customer service – you can get in touch with Kogan Mobile by email or the live chat function on its website

Getting started with Kogan Mobile

To get started with Kogan Mobile you will need to have a new Kogan Mobile SIM card, along with either a valid credit card, debit card, or a prepay plan voucher, plus a network-unlocked phone.

You can join via the following steps:

• SIM card/prepay plan – select one of these options via the Kogan Mobile website (with select prepay plan vouchers also coming with a free SIM card included), which will then redirect for purchase via the Kogan.com website
• Credit/debit card – once the SIM has been received, follow the step-by-step instructions at Kogan Mobile’s activation site (an “Activate SIM” link can be found at the top of its home page)
• Prepay plan voucher – once purchased, the voucher will be sent via email. You need to visit the activation site once you’ve got your SIM. Choose “I have an email with a voucher code” when selecting a plan, enter the code and follow the steps.

Auto-renewal is automatically enabled upon purchasing a plan. But you do have the option of disabling this feature. Kogan Mobile sends periodic reminders via email before a plan is due to expire.

How does Kogan Mobile compare?

Kogan Mobile stands out in the prepay market by virtue of the span of its 30-day and 365-day offerings. And it delivers when it comes to the fundamentals of unlimited talk and text, paired with a data allowance.

For many of us data is an essential consideration. So it’s important to carefully consider how much data you will require per 30-day period. This is especially true for Kogan Mobile, as it doesn’t offer rollover data (a key difference compared to other providers) meaning data can’t be stored away for future use.

*Further information on pricing can be found at the Kogan Mobile website. This should be used as a starter guide and not considered an actual quote.

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