As everyone knows, Rogers announced their lackluster iPhone plans not that long ago, and were immediately criticized by most Canadian wireless customers as being far too expensive. In addition, the lack of an unlimited data plan, a feature that Bell and Telus have for some of their phones, is also fairly disappointing give the web-based nature of the device.
In response to the data rates, RuinediPhone set up an online petition asking Rogers to change their data rates. Since going live nearly a week ago, they’ve amassed nearly 36,000 signatures, and have been featured on several mainstream news segments.
John Biehler recently posted a great article on how Rogers may actually be starting to listen to these various complaints. The main wireless provider in Sweden also recently revised their iPhone data plans to include an unlimited data option, mostly to appease customer complaints. I actually don’t think Rogers will do something similar based on their history, but I’m obviously hoping they do.
So, where does all this leave me? The thing is, I really don’t want to pay $100 a month for 3 years, even as much as I want the iPhone. Had it come with an unlimited data plan, I might have considered it. Given that most of the plans leave much to be desired, that there’s no unlimited data plan, and that Rogers requires a 3 year contract (something I told myself I’d never sign again), I really have no choice but to vote with my wallet. If you want to protest Roger’s iPhone plans, I suggest you do the same.
The other day I walked into a wireless store and picked up a cheap Solo phone with no contract. It’s no iPhone, but it’ll cost me about $40/mo, and should be all that I need. I would love nothing more than to be able to huck it in the garbage in July and pick up the 3G iPhone, but for that to happen Rogers will need to make a few changes to their plans. Given their history of gauging customers, I’m not so certain that they will, at least not unless they have fairly disappointing sales figures in July. So we’ll see.
Like I said above, if you are against Roger’s pricing and policies regarding the 3G iPhone, then the best thing you can do is not walk into a store next week and buy one.
If you have made a decision regarding the iPhone, I’d love to hear it here.
I am an Apple fanboy but I also have no desire to purchase an iPhone. I love my Blackberry curve w/o contract with Rogers and don’t see a benefit to going with an iPhone, especially one without an unlimited data plan.
One of the reasons I signed on with Rogers years ago was that it’s simple to switch up my phone any time by simply swapping sim cards. I don’t even remember what my original phone was that came as part of my plan. I’m sure it was some kind of crappy Motorola.
Having the flexibility to get a new phone, at anytime, has been great. I’ve been able to get what I consider a decent voice plan out of them at a reasonable price. Whenever there has been a new phone that I wanted, I simply hit up ebay or craigslist. I’d rather pay a little bit of a premium for an unlocked phone than pay the subsidized pricing for a locked down/feature limited handset from Rogers. This has also given me the ability to use my phone anywhere by simply grabbing a local sim card.
Many people are ‘locked into’ a landline…sure they can cancel it anytime but most wouldn’t dream of it. I look at my Rogers term like that. I could cancel anytime but I’d have to pay $200 to get out. Big deal. At least I didn’t have to pay up front for a crappy handset that I’d be paying off over the course of the contract. The key is to get a voice plan that works for you and not base your contract around a handset.
We recently resigned for another 3 years of our service (maintaining our voice plan deals) because my wife didn’t want to pay $300 (the no term price) for a new handset. Instead, by locking in she got the handset for I think $70 plus a $50 credit on the account. If we pull the plug on the account, we simply pay that $200 back to Rogers for the handset and everything is pretty much squared up.
The above said, I’m not a Rogers fanboy….far from it. But they are the only game in town that gives me the (easy) option of changing my phone whenever I want…I’ve been using an iPhone for a year now, in a country that hasn’t offered it yet….sure it hasn’t been with unlimited data but I’ve managed with wifi….even without unlimited data, it’s still light years ahead of the other phones on the market.
i was going to buy – then they released their “plans”.
they can rot.
I’m like John. I signed up with Rogers for the flexibilty of being able to take my sim card and placing it with any other phone. I liked the fact that they carried some really cool phones and allowed data to actually be exchanged between my computer and the phone.
That being said, I’m like you Duane. I will not be getting the iPhone on July 11th. As much as I want one, it jus doesn’t make sense at those rates. Granted my work would pay for the plan, I still don’t feel right about it.
I’ll play a “wait and see” attitude and wait a couple of months before revisiting the iPhone again.
I went with Rogers way back in the day because they had the closest retail store to me. Previously I had a pay-as-you-go with Fido but I used it for only a month and didnt justify at the time having a cellphone. Now I cannot live without one, infact I have 2! My personal one with Rogers and my Blackberry through work with Bell.
I have renewed my contract once with Rogers so I could get a Motorola Razr when they first came out. The phone was becoming a PoS but talking to the people at Rogers and at WaveWireless they told me I would have to renew on a 3 year term and pay an ADDITIONAL $150 for any phone I saw on the floor and I wouldn’t get a contract or pay upwards to $400 to cancel my contract and go with a new phone/contract. I thought that was shit so I looked to Craigslist and found myself an unopened Sony Ericsson for $200 and will just carry on the current Rogers plan I have now until the contract is dead. Think I have another year on it.
I currently pay $70+ a month for my Rogers phone and I get things like Caller ID, Enhanced Voicemail, 2500 (their unlimited) texts, 5MB of internet us (why would i ever use this on a non-smartphone I have no idea why) and some other crap I really don’t care about. Oh I also get 150mins with unlimited evenings after 6/weekends, free incoming and free rogers2rogers.
I looked at downgrading my plan to no internet usage, 200 text msgs, regular voicemail and caller id, but those options would have to be bought separately and cost me at least twice as much as the current ‘value package’ I have. So I’m stuck paying $70/month for features I don’t want anymore.
My Bell phone I do not pay for and the computer pays $100/month for my phone for unlimited data usage and 5000 pools minutes. I had a $300 phonebill when i was down in san diego and I didn’t have to pay anything for it. If it wasn’t for this damn Roger’s contract I would only keep the Bell phone.
Ok that was a bit of rant. Because of my time with Rogers and my dislike for them as a cellular carrier I too will NOT be purchasing an iPhone and renewing a contract. I think it is crap that you cannot purchase the iPhone without a contract, I guess if I really wanted on badly I would just look at getting the first generation one.
I have an iPod Touch and a fairly basic (though sturdy metal) LG 8700 “Shine” CDMA phone from Telus. Because I’m not really a phone-geek guy and I tend to keep my phone right through the contract term, that covers it for me. I get all the touchscreen, web browsing, email checking, video watching Wi-Fi goodness on the Touch, and a (crappy) snapshot camera nearly identical to the iPhone’s, good coverage, ruggedness, and a tolerable if not exceptional UI on the Shine.
I wish the carriers would offer a totally bare-bones phone without all the MP3, video, browsing, and other power-hogging features. My original pre-Telus Clearnet CDMA phone from 1998 could go a couple of weeks on a single charge and survived being beat up rather well, which is what’s really important to me.
So nope, no plans for an iPhone in the near future. I do think the GPS will be useful, though, and I will download the new firmware for my Touch when it comes out.
I was going to be there on day 1 to buy an iPhone… but without unlimited data, there’s no way! Plus Rogers does NOT have an exclusive deal with Apple to sell the iPhone. Once we get a competitor, from these Auctions that are taking place, then I will buy one.
Ditto.
Saw the $199 promo, got all excited — then reality hit. Realizing that there are now (affordable) unlimited plans now I figured the iPhone wouldn’t change that. No surprises here, same expensive data, and a $3.6k contract. No thanks.
Now to go find an unlocked phone iPhone….
I was sure I would be picking up an iPhone on July 11th, but like many others, after seeing the plans they are offering, I’m not so sure now. Saw a post on a blog somewhere (shared by Boris) saying that V2 iPhones would be showing up on eBay thanks to a law in France that says they have to offer pay-as-you-go plans for all phones or something like that. That may be an option…
@Kevin AT&T will be selling the 3G iPhone without a contract for $599 (8gb) and $699 (16gb) – I wouldn’t be surprised if Rogers does something similar but cost slightly more.
These will still be locked to AT&T but a little software should fix that soon after launch. It’s unclear at this time when the no contract iPhones will be available but it won’t be right at launch.
Any idea what Roger’s ETF is? If it’s less than the difference, it makes more sense to lock in and just break it when you want to leave.
Here is an excerpt from the post I was mentioning:
“Thanks to French law, it is illegal for Apple (or any mobile phone handset maker or carrier) to sell a locked phone in the French marketplace without also making the same device available in the popular pay-as-you-go mode, fully unlocked and portable to any carrier.”
Post is here
@Duane I believe it’s $400 for the iPhone but of course, nothing is officially stated on Rogers site specific to the iPhone and ETF – someone on a forum did all the math and an 8gb iPhone from Rogers would end up being somewhere in the range of $700-800 when it’s all said and done if you break the contract after 30 days – you have to give the phone back if it’s less than 30 days and you want out so you have to factor a month of service in as well.
I have almost the exact same plan that Tyler mentioned with Rogers, only I pay $45 a month for it, as my company (Shaw) grandfathered me in right before Rogers yanked the contract away and said they’d never provide another one for us (YAY Rogers). I love my plan and even more, I love my number. I really want the iPhone but will absolutely not be going for the plans they’ve got up there. It’s not worth paying $20 more on top of the $60 plan they’ve got up there (totalling $80 a month) for the same plan I’m getting for $54 (including the system access fee and taxes). I signed the petition right when it came out and there was 9000 on it. People keep mentioning that the drawback of an online petition is that anyone can sign it. That’s a great thing, as Americans are leaving messages about how they feel sorry for us. Pretty pathetic in my books.