Thai operator AIS has launched an online SIM card dubbed Gomo. The SIM, which costs THB 299.00 (US $9.34) per month, offers 50 GB of data at high speed and unlimited internet access at 512 Kbps, 100 minutes of voice calls to all networks and unlimited AIS Super WiFi. The offer also includes free YouTube Premium viewing with no ads for three months, the Work Anywhere Package, which allows free use of Office 365 and Zoom, and a Covid-19 life insurance plan valid for 45 days.
The offer is valid until 30 June, Subscribers can manage their services online 24 hours a day via the Gomo app. The SIM card must be purchased on AIS’s website, where users select a package, choose a number, make their payment, and wait for the SIM to be delivered to their home. The SIM is also activated by using the same app.
Tarifica’s Take
This offer from AIS, Thailand’s largest mobile operator, appears to be tailored carefully to the present moment in the marketplace. The coronavirus has upended the way people do business, their movements and their spending habits. Gomo, as an online-only SIM offer with generous features at a low price, is appropriate for users, particularly younger ones, who are working from home.
Gomo subscribers, in common with most of the younger demographic, are not likely to be heavy users of voice telephony, so 100 minutes a month to all networks should suffice. On the other hand, they are likely to be big consumers of data, so the monthly allowance 50 GB should be in the sweet spot. One sour note, though, is the throttling of data speed to 512 Kbps after the maximum is reached. At such a crawl-like speed, use of today’s applications is essentially impossible, so users will have to take care not to exceed 50 GB.
The inclusion of YouTube Premium, Office 365 and Zoom is a good idea, considering that unprecedented numbers of people are staying home due to the pandemic. Streaming entertainment content and online platforms for working at home are, under the circumstances, very much in demand, so having these services available free of extra charge under the offer is likely to be a crowd-pleaser. And of course, since customers are trying to stay at or close to home as much as possible during the pandemic, providing a fully remote process for signing up and acquiring the physical SIM card is also appropriate and bound to be appreciated. And while we do not know the terms of the Covid-19 life insurance policy, the fact that it has no premium will certainly not be lost on subscribers, despite the grim reminder that it brings with it.