My fellow Canadians, if you’re already enjoying the virtually “unlimited” goodness and peace of mind that comes with Rogers reluctant, 11th hour $30/6GB promotional plan, then there’s nothing to see here. Your rate is good for the length of your contract.
If you haven’t jumped on the “deal” yet, however, remember that the plan is set to expire Aug. 31. Or it was… Rogers seems to have extended it — slightly — to Sept. 30.
After that?
A monthly fee of $30 will buy 1 GB of data instead of 6GB. A cheaper package of $25 will give 500 megabytes, filling the needs of most customers based on early consumption trends, [Rogers spokeswoman Liz Hamilton] said. Other plans include $50 for 2GB, $60 for 3GB and $80 for 8GB.
To mitigate the disaster of these new plans, Rogers will provide unlimited data for 3 months to all new customers on the plans, and customers can change between plans (up or down) without penalty. They’ll also receive a text message when they’re getting close to their hard limit, and another when they hit it. An overall cap will also be placed at $100 a month, usage be rogered.
While Rogers claims neither you nor I may really be able to chew through 6GB a month, they’re contention about not wanting to over-charge us is clearly disingenuous, or else they would be offering lower bandwidth plans at LOWER rates, not higher. (i.e., they would keep the 6GB at $30 and add a 2GB at $20, 1GB at $15, and 500MB at $10).
The protests are likely over — which we’re sure they’re counting on — but way to show your regressive spots there, Rogers.
I’m not going to get off on another Rogers rant here. Suffice it to say, when it comes to Canadian telcos, I’m the rat who, having learned helplessness, now lies face down on the hot plate.
However, not content to let me lie there and wither in peace, now comes this report, determined to kick poor downed me with some hope:
Sources from inside Rogers claim that the device should be available the same month as an expected US release of an updated, 3G-capable model [...] currency values are likely to place the cost of the phone itself closer to the eventual US figure. [...] The sources claim that the iPhone will qualify for Rogers’ $7 on-device browsing plan, which currently allows all phones offered by Rogers (excepting BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices) to access the web as much as they like through the carrier’s officially-sanctioned browser. Whether Rogers will allow YouTube, the App Store, and other official but non-web devices to fall into the unlimited plan is unknown, though unlike with other phones Rogers will not have the choice of installing or customizing the web browser or other applications.
We’ll see (or more likely, we won’t see). The best indicator of future behavior being prior behavior, I figure the iPhone data plan will cost $100/month for 1GB. Prove me wrong, Rogers!
What do you think?
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As posted (and updated) earlier, O2 has officially launched the iPhone in Ireland, making it the fifth country (after the US, UK, Germany, and France) to enjoy the revolutionary phone and breakthrough internet device… ish…
Apple Insider reports that Irish iPhone plans, unlike all previous iPhone plans DO NOT come with unlimited data or visual voicemail (a feature often touted by Steve Jobs as being a prime example of carrier cooperation and hence, the benefit of exclusivity).
There seems to be two options here:
- We’ve heard before that Edge (2.5G data) coverage isn’t strong in Europe (which more quickly embraced the faster 3G data model), so could this be a (potentially temporary) situation that O2 will rectify over time? If so, we could be looking forward to service improvements and price drops like we saw with O2 in the UK.
- Or is this a sign that Apple is no longer pressuring carriers to offer affordable, unlimited data plans or features like visual voice mail as part of the iPhone package? If so, this could be the beginning of a far more sweeping and important story. It’s long been rumored that extremely high data rates have kept the iPhone out of countries like Canada, so if Apple is bending to carrier demands on these issues, it could allow the iPhone to spread wider, but at the cost of the concessions Apple was previously able to leverage. (And which analysts said could change the wireless industry)
What do you think? Is this just a temporary road bump on the way to Irish iPhone bliss, or a sign of changing times in carrier-land? And if so, would you prefer to see the iPhone in more countries, even if you get less data and fewer features? Or do you want Apple to hold the line on unlimited plans and visual voicemail-style innovations?
