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News

Canadians React to Rogers’ iPhone Data Plan
Posted 07/01/2008 at 2:29:56pm | by Warren Frey

Canadian iPhone
You’re not my buddy, Rogers.

Canadians have been waiting for the iPhone for more than a year. But now, with the phone set to arrive in Canadian stores on July 11, anticipation has been replaced with disappointment and anger.

Why the bad feelings? Because Rogers Wireless, the only provider (along with it’s subsidiary, Fido) with the GSM technology needed to use the phone, has announced data plans for the iPhone that are leaving many potential customers scratching their heads.

Canadians have always paid more for both their voice and data plans, regardless of their provider, compared to almost every developed country in the world. But the iPhone’s data-centric feature set and innovative design led many to believe that change was in the air.

Instead, Canadian iPhone fans got more of the same, with plans that ranged from $60 for 400 megabytes to $115 for 2 gigabytes of data usage. Users are locked into a three year contract, and no unlimited plan was offered. Response online was swift.

“Not only do they roll out the most ridiculous of rate plans, compared to practically any other first world country, but they leave their current clients scratching their heads wondering if they’ll be part of the spectacle that will be July 11th in Canada. I, for one, will NOT be a part of the spectacle,” Vancouver blogger and social media expert ,Tanya Davis said on her blog, netchick.ca.

And she wasn’t alone in her dismay with the new plans. John Biehler, who bought and unlocked the first-gen iPhone soon after it came out last year, is wary of how a crippling lack of an unlimited data plan will be for users.

“Rogers missed a huge opportunity to get a lot of new customers by not offering some form of unlimited data plan. The App Store alone will most likely consume a lot of data simply browsing it, let alone downloading any of the apps. Combine that with the GPS feature of the iPhone 3G and users will be using a ton of data, and they haven't even checked their email yet,” Beihler said.

Data use isn’t the only reason, Canadians are disappointed with Rogers’ plans. Tim Bray, Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems, is concerned that those who travel will be unfairly penalized by restrictive data usage rates.

“Those of us who need the mobile Web access the most are those who travel a lot, and Canadians who travel a lot tend to travel to the States a lot. Unless there's some sort of sensible cross-border data plan, the iPhone just isn't an option for me,” Bray said.

But not everyone who buys the iPhone is expecting a higher bill from Rogers. For some, the new plans will actually mean substantial savings.

“For me, it’s much better than what I’m shelling out now. I’d save nearly $100/month,” broadcaster and blogger Tod Maffin said.

Maffin is currently paying $100 for 200 megabytes of data, along with additional voice and texting fees that push his monthly bill up to $172. With the cheapest iPhone 3G plan, he’ll get 400 megabytes of data, along with more voice options for $75.

But for many, the giddy thrill of lining up for an iPhone on July 11 has now been replaced with anger and contempt. Rogers and Apple have been preparing their retail staff to deal with an onslaught of new customers, but the new data rates may inadvertently put a damper, not only on the enthusiasm of Canadian iPhone fans, but on sales as well.

 

COMMENTS: 10
TAGS:  Rogers, iPhone Launch
COMMENTS
avatarNeed More Competition In Canada!

Submitted by Larry B (not verified) on Mon, 2008-06-30 09:36

Largest class action in Canadian history is on right now against Bell, Telus and Rogers over charging the so called system access fees. Instead of opening up the market for iPhone users to tens of thousands of regular users, they provide ridiculous amount of LOW talk time. Call display not even available unless you guessed it, you pay for a bunch of features when you only need the one you want. As usual Canadians corporations are behaving like characters from John Steinbecks "The Pearl."

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avatarRe: Need more competition in Canada

Submitted by Imagine Engine (not verified) on Tue, 2008-07-01 08:27

Larry,

An iPhone customer that only wants to add on call display or the early evening calling option doesn't have to choose the $20.00 iPhone value package and instead can add on features such as call display for $7.00 MSF or the early evenings calling starting at 6 PM for $7.00 MSF or 5 PM for $9.00 MSF. Doing it separately would only benefit those that are not heavy text users that would need the bundle package that includes 10,000 sms or are not bundling features that would exceed $20.00.

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avatarIt's hard to relay to

Submitted by Chazzz (not verified) on Mon, 2008-06-30 13:12

It's hard to relay to non-Canadians how utterly hated Rogers is. For many of us Rogers makes Microsoft look like Google. In addition to being one of Canada's three wireless providers Rogers is also a cable provider. A number of years ago the company quietly introduced new channels and added them to subscribers' bills as a bundle -- without telling customers! The only way for customers to opt out was to provide written notice to Rogers that they didn't want the new bundle. Canadians were outraged: millions of us learned the new term "negative option billing," and Rogers eventually backed down. But they clearly haven't learned. The company's customer service is breathtakingly pathetic; from top executives to the lowliest CSR there seems to exist a culture of arrogant indifference to customers' needs; their exorbitant rates are nothing short of blatant extortion; and the actual technical quality of their wireless service, as measured by the frequency of dropped calls, is so bad it'll make your jaw drop. I'm one of those Canadians who's been waiting impatiently for the iPhone but who is now, having seen what Rogers intends to charge, thinking again.

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avatarSeriously disappointing

Submitted by Travis Ulrich (not verified) on Mon, 2008-06-30 17:53

I just went from having to have an iPhone to hoping no one in Canada buys one.

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avatarCellular Services in Canada

Submitted by yyznxj1 (not verified) on Tue, 2008-07-01 05:16

I for one was waiting for the iPhone in Canada. It now appears that I will not be getting one once it is launched north of the border.

The Cellular charges that all Service Providers charge are ridiculous when compared to services in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Canada gets the latest hardware (iPhone could be an exception of sorts) long after the model is on its way off the shelf in other parts of the world.

It is time the Bells and Rogers be brought to the table to make this most popular form of communication more competitive and affordable with a better choice of hardware as well.

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avatarCanadians should boycott the iPhone launch

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2008-07-01 06:20

The only way that Rogers will get the message (and Apple would help deliver it to them forcefully) is if Zero customers show up to by iPhones.

I know it's painful, because many of us have been waiting a long time, but as consumers we need to get together and use our collective voice. It is ironic that Rogers argues that nobody needs/uses more data than what they are offering, but then they cap it. If it were true, then there is no reason for them to fear unlimited plans.

We need usable plans built for the world of the iPhone, not the older world of smartphones that are a pain to use for internet browsing, etc... We need a plan that is affordable and allows business travelers real alternatives for roaming/long distance in North America.

We also need to make our voice known to the CRTC that we need more competition. Our wireless plans in Canada are another substantial cost factor that adds challenges to competing in North America and Europe.

We need to boycott this launch (apologies to Apple) - spread the word.

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avatarGood idea! This is the time

Submitted by Joseph (not verified) on Wed, 2008-07-02 15:57

Good idea! This is the time to wake up and say loud and clear to Rogers and CRTC that Canadians don’t want to pay ridiculous rates for using mobile phones. Let’s spread the word!

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avatariPhone data

Submitted by Imagine Engine (not verified) on Tue, 2008-07-01 08:03

"Data use isn’t the only reason, Canadians are disappointed with Rogers’ plans. Tim Bray, Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems, is concerned that those who travel will be unfairly penalized by restrictive data usage rates."

Rogers has the lowest roaming rate for data plan subscribers when traveling compared to either Telus or Bell. If you call their Customer Care line they will inform you they are also in the process of updating their website to advertise the new international roaming optional add on packages that are for either just voice usage or combined voice and data covering for the USA, Europe and Asia. They don't have any international roaming packages for South America though they do have international roaming agreements there.

As for the current iPhone 3G Voice & Data plans I have a concern that these data plans for most will not work. The reason being Rogers has not been able to test the App Store since it's not yet released to see how much data a customer may use with this service as well subscribers of Apple's MobileMe service which also will use data for push email, push contacts and push calendar. When I contacted Rogers via email on their website I was told they estimated the average user of the iPhone will only use 100 MB. I don't know where they get that idea as I've been around the 200 MB mark with an unlocked EDGE iPhone and that's with out having the App Store or even MobileMe which are set to be released with the iPhone 3G on July 11. I use a combination of WIFI and EDGE for email, internet browsing, Google Maps, Weather app, Stocks App and YouTube. My recommendation for Rogers if they don't want to offer unlimited is to increase the data alloted starting a 1 GB, 2 GB to a maximum of 6 GB. The 6 GB range would cover anyone that's planning on tethering their device or just simply going hog wild with their data usage.

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avatarThe App Store won't be a

Submitted by Victor (not verified) on Tue, 2008-07-01 11:08

The App Store won't be a benchmark for bandwidth usage. The fact that it will be 3G alone will be enough for people to want to use the browser more. The specific Apps that might be bandwidth-intensive would be relegated, I think, to those that are media-intensive such as streaming audio and VOIP applications. As always, people will temper their usage based on how hard some of these applications might be on the battery. Apps such as Twitter won't be bandwidth-intensive such as the mere fact that they are pull clients and APIs such as Twitter limit the amount of polling an application can perform on a service.

I think Web apps will be generally be more bandwidth intensive. The UI has to download on every new instance and refresh more often than a native App. The native App - it appears from the public information Apple has out there - needs to be download via the desktop in order to be installed. It doesn't appear - yet - that over-the-air installation of App Store apps is possible for July 11th.

I know people - myself one of them - that are using an unlocked iPhone and Edge speeds encourage me to use it less. The faster 3G will drive my frequency of usage rather than equalize or lessen it. Of course the point is moot since I won't be supporting Rogers' plans to insult its customers by virtue of their pricing schemes.

I've made some obvious generalizations and tried not to declare absolutes. The point is, the iPhone 3G - minus new native Apps - has sufficient potential to blow past the reader's aforementioned 200 megs usage easily in a month. Rogers has idiots on their staff if they think otherwise. Their comparisons of data usage to e-mail, text messages and web pages seems completely unfounded given they haven't shown any savvy to compare usage to YouTube video (hello, there's a built-in player), iTunes downloads (hello, there's a built-in client for purchasing and download) and more data-heavy pages. Oh, and by the way... people can view QuickTime videos over the web on an iPhone.

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avatarAwful

Submitted by Kendall Tawes (not verified) on Tue, 2008-07-01 19:13

What the hell kind of company is Rogers wireless anyway. It would almost be cheaper to get an international plan with AT&T and bring it to Canada. Oh well, I guess when pharmaceuticals cost half as much something has to cost twice as much.

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