All Articles Tagged rogers

Yeah. Ouch. But that’s what BGR’s Canadian ninja are reporting. These are Best Buy inventory prices, but it’s hard to imagine Rogers/Fido stores charging less what with the exchange rate and typically Canadian shipping overages added.

Any Canadians (besides me) lining up for an off-contract iPhone 3G S this Friday? Does the price change things? How about those of you getting the full subsidy? Happier now?

Looks like Rogers will be bringing back the $30/6GB data plans just in time for the iPhone 3G S launch!

Last year, to help defuse some of the negative publicity surrounding Canadian data rates in face of the iPhone 3G launch, Rogers extended a hand to data hungry users in the form of this plan — for a limited time only.

Recently Rogers brought the plan back for their Android handset as well, but it’s great to see it specified for our new iPhone.

Pricing is also given above for current, 2008 iPhone 3G hardware. We thought $99 would be the cheap rate, but it looks like either it’s not going down that far, or the system just hasn’t been updated yet.

Hopefully we’ll get more as the June 19 launch day approaches.

Okay, I take back 13% of all the bad things I’ve ever said about Rogers. The Social Media Rep for Rogers/Fido, Keith McArthur, has unleashed the following today via Twitter:

• Both Rogers Wireless and Fido will offer iPhone 3GS starting June 19. [link]
• Rogers/Fido pricing is $199 for 16GB iPhone 3GS; $299 for 32GB iPhone 3GS on a three-year voice and data plan. [link]
• 8GB version of the iPhone 3G will drop to $99 on June 19 at Rogers and Fido with a three-year voice and data plan. [link]
• Rogers is reintroducing the $30/6GB data plan for iPhones effective tomorrow, June 9. Offer available for a limited time. [link]
• Rogers/Fido are only national carriers to offer $25/500MB plan. 93% of iPhone users use less than 500MB so this is the right plan for most. [link]

UPDATE: Steve in the comments points out this gem from the same Twitter feed:

• There will be a no-contract price for customers who want to upgrade before they’re eligible for a subsidy [link]

You stand on guard for me. Well done, sirs!

iPhoneinCanada.ca is reporting that as of June 16, Rogers will begin offering a “heavy user” data plan for 15GB at $150 a month. Those of us who remember 200MB at $100 a month are no doubt shaking our heads, but for especially rapacious users on tethered or laptop setups, it could be more than worth the money:

Device support: All iPhones, Blackberries, HTC Devices, Smartphones, and Mobile Internet Sticks

Anyone hopping on that premium bandwagon any time soon?

Boy Genius and their stealthy squad of tele-shinobi have emerged with juicy details on the Canadian carrier Rogers and their next gen iPhone plans:

iPhone — ETA: unknown (July/August), outright: not allowed, 3-year: TBD. Of note, Rogers will launch the new iPhone on the same day that it lifts off here in the US. Purchases will be limited to one iPhone per customer on opening day and there will be active demos on display in stores. Also of note, Rogers expects to have substantially more iPhones on hand this time around so as not to run into the same stock issues as with the iPhone 3G launch.

Last year’s launch raised cross-country protests over the then-exorbitantly high data rates in Canada, which caused Rogers to temporarily offer a $30/6GB plan which has since disappeared. With AT&T considering lower rates for the iPhone, is there a chance in Hull Rogers would do likewise?

iPhoneinCanada.ca has unconfirmed reports of Rogers discounting the iPhone 3G by $100 for qualified buyers (check the link for what qualifies as qualified).

If anyone can confirm this, let us know in the comments. Is Rogers trying to clear stock in advance of a next generation iPhone release this summer?

Ah, rumor season. Gotta love it!

UPDATE: Keith from Rogers in the comments:

I’m in the communications department at Rogers and can confirm that we are aware of this issue with the 6GB promotion. It was a technological malfunction that resulted in an error on less than 10 customer accounts. We take these things very seriously and we’re working to fix it. We will, of course, continue to honour the 6GB promotion for those customers who signed up for it.

Thanks Keith, now how about news on bringing back those $30/6GB accounts as standard so Canada reaches some form of parity with US pricing?

ORIGINAL: Prior to the iPhone 3G launch in Canada last year, there was a massive internet and public protest surrounding Rogers exorbitant data plans (not too long ago cresting $100 for 200MB!). To try and turn things around, Rogers offered a limited time $30/6GB plan (which should never have been limited in time) on 3 year(!) contract, and many were quick to sign up for it when they got their new iPhone 3Gs. Fast forward 9 months later, however, and seems some shenanigans are going on again around Rogers way. According to MacNN, people are losing those $30/6GB accounts, way before the 3 years are up:

The problem is allegedly widespread amongst Rogers iPhone customers, and believed to be connected to alterations of a person’s account, such as a change in address or phone number. Because the promotional code for the $30/6GB plan no longer exists, discounts may simply be evaporating as accounts are recreated. People who signed up for the $30 price were originally promised that it would persist throughout their three-year contract.

Customer service staff seem to vary greatly in their willingness and ability to solve this problem. NOT. GOOD. ROGERS. Being a GSM monopoly doesn’t let you abuse it, remember?

Meanwhile, according to Engadget Mobile, Rogers’ wholly owned, discount branded Fido subsidiary seems to be gearing up to ditch the iPhone 3G’s 16GB SKU entirely, leaving only the 8GB version on the product list. Fists with the low-end brand, we guess…

So, anyone hosed by Rogers on data, or going to be missing out that 16GB iPhone 3G on Fido? Let us know!

[Thanks Chris for the tip]

So yesterday we linked to Zach Epstein’s story over at BGR, the one about an internal Rogers briefing call that claimed Vancouver would be enjoying some 4G LTE at 50Mbps+ just in time for the Winter Olympics.

Rogers contacted us almost immediately to say the story was inaccurate and the call never happened, and we contacted Zach who was gracious enough to get back to us, reaffirming the story. Now the BGR has kicked it up another notch, posting audio from the supposed call online.

Real? Fake? A “leak it so we sound innovative but deny it so if it doesn’t launch we had coverage” tactic? Take a listen to the recording and tell us what you think…

UPDATED AGAIN: BGR is sticking by their story. Interesting times, eh?

UPDATE: We just received an email from Rogers stating:

“While we generally don’t comment on speculation or rumour, this posting is not accurate. Rogers was involved in no such call.”

ORIGINAL: So we’ve heard about AT&T and the EU, and we’ve heard about Verizon. Now it’s Canadian iPhone carrier, Rogers’ turn. The BGR brings word they’re pouring on the 4G LTE in hopes of launching in Vancouver in time for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in February.

Reportedly 50Mbps (un-optimized) is already a go on tests, and while no handsets will be available until mid-2010, USB dongles should launch sooner. Following Vancouver, Rogers plans to expand the network, and vows they’ll have less problems than their 3G HSPA launch. (We all hope!)

In the mixed bag-of-hurt department, it sounds like Rogers is also going to try to help out their over-strained cable business by merging it with 4G and Portable Internet.

Okay, fair enough, it’s not the nearly 7 million iPhones our big United Statesian brothers to the south consumed in the last quarter, but for a market the size of Canada’s (where it is cold and we must work hard just to survive…), 255,000 iPhones moved is EPIC.

Says Electronista:

The telecoms company sold and activated a total of 255,000 iPhones between the device’s July 11th launch and the end of September, helping the carrier boost its net subscriber additions to 191,000 and increasing the company’s average income per user “considerably above” the average thanks to many attaching a data plan to their services.

Rogers claims that the subsidies they provided for this many iPhones put a drain on them, but thanks to the huge — and ongoing — monthly service plans attached, I don’t think many give a flying hockey puck about that, especially after they just recently cut the commission rates for their reps.

Like in the US, these results are expected to have come at the expense of rival, in this case CDMA, networks Bell and Telus (since Rogers/Fido enjoys a GSM monopoly position).

Could their threat of ending their fairer 30$/6GB data plan last month have helped boost sales? I know roughly 8 people who all got iPhones for just that reason. Anyone else?