Rogers Does It To Canadians Again With the iPhone
When it was announced earlier this month that the iPhone would finally be coming to Canada on July 11th, there was no shortage of discussion as to just how bad the pricing was going to be for the data plans.
For those outside of Canada who might not know, there are three (major) mobile carriers - Rogers, Bell, and Telus. Only Rogers uses GSM, so it was a given that they (along with subsidiary Fido) were going to be carrying the iPhone exclusively in Canada.
The big question came down to data. Many don’t realize, but there’s really no such thing as unlimited data plans in the Great White North, and to match a U.S. unlimited data plan, Canadians would need to shell out somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1200 PER MONTH.
So when Engadget Mobile dropped a rumour about a $30 consumer plan and a $45 enterprise plan, it was quite the surprise. Today though, comes the hard slap of reality.
While requiring a 3-year contract, you’ll get exactly 400MB of data along with 150 minutes for $60 per month. If you’re a hardcore user, the most you’re going to get is 2GB of data + 800 minutes for a whopping $115 per month.
Oh, and if you want caller ID with that, it’s available in a couple of extra packages, for either $15 or $20 per month. Otherwise, you don’t even get caller ID with a phone that you’re going to pay a premium for.
And if you’re a prepaid customer, I’m willing to bet that you’re looking at close to $1000 to buy the phone, and then no data plan.
But what else can you do? No competition means they can charge what they want.
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5 Responses to “Rogers Does It To Canadians Again With the iPhone”
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I’ve posted this elsewhere, but the economics of what Rogers charges versus what AT&T chargers have a lot to do with coverage area versus potential population. AT&T knows they’ll make more by charging less since in California alone they have 3 million more potential cellular customers than Rogers has in all of Canada.
Larger adoption rates will help lower the costs, and in ways this is a chicken and egg issue for Rogers. With the rates high not as many people adopt, and without people adopting it’s hard for them to justify lowering the rates.
Don’t forget the thing is that Rogers is a public for profit company, and wireless data is not an essential service.
As for competition, well there is. Telus and Bell both have hitched their wagon to CDMA technology, and have refused so far to update to more modern technologies. That’s not Rogers’ fault. Also when companies have come into the market and offered drastically different rates, Fido for example, they’ve always lost money hand over fist and ended up needing to get bought out. Thus disproving the idea that Rogers is just profitering.
Thanks for the feedback, Jeffery. I started this post early this morning, and didn’t get a chance to finish it till later in the day, and there was stuff that I meant to include, but I just wanted to get the thing done at the end of the day.
Of course a big part of the pricing has to do with population, and admittedly part of the post may have been out of frustration that the pricing isn’t a cost that I can really justify.
And you’re also right about Telus and Bell. While it would certainly be easier if all three used GSM, it’s not likely to happen anytime soon.
Maybe I’ll have a look at the phone when it comes out July and reconsider the whole thing.
Sorry to hear it Rod, I thought some rates here was bad. Although I wouldn’t buy an iPhone if you gave me half the money anyway.
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