As noted in the news thread, Rogers today announced thier iPhone rate plans for Canda.  Here is the rogers webpage with the details.

They give you plenty of call minutes, and free WiFi at any of their hotspots, but with for instance the $60 plan they limit you to 400MB of data and 75 text messages, so you need to add the bonus pack for another $15 to get 2500 text message, and if you go over the data limit you’re looking at 50cents per megabyte for the next 60 ($30) and 3cents after that. 

Even with the $115 plan you have a limit of 2GB of data.

Pretty pathetic really.  A great phone crippled by a stingy network.

Yah, it’s too bad. I was going to buy the phone on July 11 but now think the hell with it. I’ve got a cell phone and a laptop for wifi sites and will make do with that until Rogers smartens up if ever.

I presently have a $25 package and have no intent on subscribing to a $100 plus package for 3 years for some net surfing in addition to what I have now.

What pisses me off is ATT only charges $30 on top of your cell plan for unlimited. We are so f’n primitive up here when it comes to cells.

Same here

I was hopping for rogers to finnally have a good deal but sadly it won’t happen. I can’t even understand why the callerid is not even on the basic plan…

One again Canada stay in the dark ages of cellphone.

The greed of Rogers is disgusting. What surprises me is that Apple would let these pariahs represent them in any way. I buy everything Apple but will not buy an iPhone as long as these pigs are the sole carrier in my country. The Canadian government agency that allowed Rogers to buy out the only other GSM carrier FIDO should all resign for dereliction of duty (That means you CRTC -  Canadian Radio and Television Commission) I hope that somehow AT&T cut a reasonable roaming data deal then I will buy an iPhone in the US and go with an AT&T plan even if it costs me more!!!! 
Shame on Ted Rogers and his mignons.

Another take

http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/06/27/rogers-new-iphone-3g-plans-anger-some-canadians

That s*cks big big time. Shame on you Rogers, I can’t believe Apple is ok with these plans. 400 mo, that’s a joke. I was waiting for july 11th to get a 3g iphone, but now instead I’ll get a jailbreak 2g, they’re cheap now on the classifieds…

Sales of the iPhone would have been fantastic if Rogers would have offered a $30/m unlimited data plan. Even with the 3 year contract.

Now, with this plan, sales will be minimal at best. Not very impressive. So much for the iPhone halo effect in Canada.

Softbank in Japan gives you complete unlimited data packets (but not including SMS) for 5985 Yen. That is roughly 54 dollars US. Not bad at all I think. After everything is calculated I’ll be paying 8400 Yen a month for the next two years, and that includes the price of the handset… very reasonable considering japan.

Softbank shops are also taking names so that people don’t have to line up. most convenient

Presumably telcos are an extension of general taxation, set up by the politicians in exchange for covert diversion of some of the cash.

Nevertheless, I am more optimistic for about five year’s time when the telcos’ barriers will be comprehensively tunnelled through and routed around using cheaper technology.

Apparently Rogers charges $7 a month for caller id! Perhaps next they will enhance the value of this service with smart voice recognition technology that blanks out the caller’s voice whenever they are telling you who they are.

As one blogger headlined it: Rogers iPhone plans: lube not included

Also remember that in Europe (and the rest of the civilised world) mobile users do not pay or use up their free minutes for incoming calls, unlike in the US, so compared to the AT&T deal (or anyone else’s actually), O2’s is simply fantastic.

Here are some contacts at Rogers and Apple to express your love of Rogers and their pricing

http://www.kmo.ca/index.php/2008/contact-info-for-rogers-and-apple/

Unfortunately, the norwegian rate plans are even worse than the canadian. The most expensive one is NOK 1100 (USD 215!) a month, which gets you 1GB data, 1000 minutes and 1000 texts. The cheapest is NOK 400 (USD 80), with 100 minutes, 100 texts and 100 MB. This sucks, and is ca 50% more expensive than the swedish rates.
THey are not allowing unlocked phones, which I think will get them in trouble with the authorities.

You know, I’m so PISSED at this I have to comment again. I wish we could get all potential Canadian subscribers together and just simply BOYCOTT the phone until Rogers changes this. I will certainly be watching for any 3G phones that manage to get into the “wild” without an attached contract.

I am telling my friends, who I was previously playing this phone up highly to, about the curtailment to the barnstorming use this phone could have had with a $30 to $50 unlimited data plan.

It’s certainly worth exploring any roaming plans from at&t that might work in canada.

This from a guy who would have lined up at the Sherway Apple store for the July 11 release. Way to go Rogers.

On another note, I’m dying to see what pricing on the Touch goes like after July 11! VERY probable I’ll be getting one now.

[quote author=“SNIPUS”]Here are some contacts at Rogers and Apple to express your love of Rogers and their pricing

http://www.kmo.ca/index.php/2008/contact-info-for-rogers-and-apple/

Thanks for the contacts!

Just sent this to Ted Rogers and most others on your list:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mr Ted Rogers:

Well, your pricing plans have changed my plans. Thinking that Rogers would have a plan similar to AT&T for the iPhone had me planning to be in the line to buy the phone on July 11 along with a number of my friends.

The plans Rogers offer completely kill the potential experience the iPhone could deliver. Nothing like having the 400 MB/1 gig/2 gig download clock running in the side bar each time I call up weather maps, catch some news, do some online trading while travelling, use google maps while driving with the iPhone gps and many other etceteras.

Needless to say, I will NOT be driving down to Toronto on July 11 to line up for this. I have communicated my thoughts to many friends and family who would have delighted in signing up too. Many of them are Bell users who would have switched to Rogers.

Please, reconsider this pricing plan. For the sake of those who don’t want to sign a 3 year, 36 months (x $115 per month = $4140 plus taxes and $300 for the phone itself = close to $5000) contract and get an inferior service/iPhone experience compared to the one offered in countries like USA and England. Why can we not manage to have cell services that are comparable to most other countries?

I shudder to think what roaming with a Rogers iPhone in USA (where I do a lot of my travelling) would entail in fees.

We are not Blackberry users with contracts paid by our employers. We are a (potentially) brand new consumer market that could expand/enhance Rogers customer base and reputation. I pay Rogers just under $30 a month for cell services now. With a data add on contract of $30 a month like AT&T customers have, you could have gotten another $1000 from me in that 3 years. Now you won’t.

But of course, you have already considered this calculation in forming your price structure. My question is, did you think we, your customers, wouldn’t?

Please, don’t explain your need to throttle in kids downloading movies etc for bandwidth reasons. Just cut off p2p networking and let the rest of us enjoy.

Thank you for at least reading this.

C. Rawlings

Is there alternative network that the 3G iPhone could run on in Canada, assuming it can be unlocked? I was under the impression (perhaps wrongly) that Rogers was a monopoly on GSM.

It is currently a monopoly on GSM. Rogers bought out the struggling underfinanced FIDO GSM carrier a couple of years ago. There may be some light at the end of this tunnel though. Rogers is not the ‘‘exclusive’’ iPhone carrier in Canada at least not contractually. The Canadian government recently held auctions for more spectrum but the results are not known as yet. I will be surprised if Bell and Telus were not among the winners. So we have to wait. However from a business point of view Rogers is being stupid and short sighted as I suspect a lot of people will never go to Rogers even if they adjust their pricing after the competition arrives. They are so far removed from the Apple culture. Pity.