07/12/2007, 4:15pm, EDT
Thursday, July 12th'Realistic' Canadian plan still costly for iPhone?
The problem of Rogers' excessive data prices in Canada still creates dire prospects for the iPhone even when a more practical plan is chosen, says the country's National Post newspaper. While the journalist claims to have received "howls of protest" from wireless industry backers who claim that a $295 plan would feature more than any one cellphone user would need, with most use topping out at 25MB in a given month, he notes that many of Rogers' plans are still prohibitively expensive to be useful.
The MyMail Right Fit is the key example of the gap between American and Canadian service. While it meets the 25MB monthly data limit, it strips out almost half the minutes (declining from 450 to 250) and eliminates most of the features found in the AT&T plan, such as all nighttime and weekend minutes, text messaging, and voicemail for $97 Canadian ($93 US) -- far more than the $60 US of the AT&T plan that offers unlimited data and all the missing features. A typical package restoring voicemail and SMS texts would lift the price to $145.
Rogers has yet to formally respond to the charges made against it but may ultimately miss the core argument if it objects to a rate change as part of an iPhone deal, according to the claims. Under current terms, most of the Apple handset's features would be limited or switched off altogether for all but the wealthiest users.
"[It's] still a greatly inferior plan to AT&T's with nowhere near the same data allowance and almost half the talk time," says the Post. "By any measure, Rogers is giving far less for far more."
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Any disparity between the Canadian plans and the US plan will cause mass revolt, disaffection among potential customers and most importantly WILL OPEN THE DOOR to foreign companies such as AT&T who CAN provide those services. Rogers enjoys a near-monopoly and they'd best make damn sure they don't upset their base or they may find themselves facing actual competition.
This is your wake up call, Rogers! Get with the program or die like a dinosaur. The writing is on the wall -- or more accurately on the touch-screen.
Greedy data plans cost more to run than cheaper plans because no one can afford them. Learn from Sam Walton.
When you get a situation like you have with GSM in Canada, it's usually the government's fault for making competitive barriers to entry too high.
Who knows, maybe you have to by law cover all of the sparsely-populated Laurentian shield land to qualify for frequencies or some other stupid thing.. "No cherrypicking, eh?!"
The glories of the web have been uncorked and Rogers is only getting in the way.
In a few years these puppies may be selling for $99 like the RAZR... Better amortize that R+D while they can!
I seem to recall that what is now Rogers Wireless was at some point AT&T Canada. Granted - that was the OLD AT&T – but don't hold your breath for an outside company moving into the Canadian market.
It seems that despite all the talk of 'free markets being good for the consumer' the telecommunications companies have us by the balls and that the CRTC has no problem watching as they squeeze...
I gave up my cell years ago, but would gladly get an iPhone to replace my Newton MP2100...
First of all, if they are anything they are socialists, and I wouldn't even go as far as that.
Second of all, Rogers is acting much more Capitalist than communist you idiot.
Third of all, this IS completely obscene that canadians are being charged that much for wireless data. It actually took me by surprise which is hard to do these days.
I feel very sorry for our Canadian Mac-brothers to the north today. Good Luck.