A closer look at Rogers’ iPhone voice/data rates
Rogers announced their new voice & data rates this past weekend, and boy did it create quite the stir, first on the internet, and then getting coverage in mainstream newspaper and television news. So what’s the big deal? Essentially, that Rogers voice/data rate plans are some of the least competitive rates available in the industrialized world, and despite monthly plans ranging as high as $115/month for the top-end plan, that still doesn’t get you unlimited data. Unlike many other iPhone carriers, Rogers simply doesn’t offer unlimited data for the iPhone, period.
Rogers and Fido (owned by Rogers) essentially have identical service plans, which can be seen here and here respectively. While the lack of an unlimited data plan on the surface might seem like a major issue, it’s important to put things in perspective. Since no one can theoretically USE unlimited data in any given month, having an unlimited plan is really just a way to make people feel at ease that they will NEVER incur any data usage charges. One can argue that the same thing is accomplished by simply having a plan that has a high enough data cap that you’d never have to worry about hitting it.
Unfortunately, Rogers data plans don’t even come close to satisfying this, but not all is doom and gloom. With the entry-level data package’s 400MB per month of included data, you could check email, weather and stocks several times per day and do a bit of web surfing once a week or so and be fine. Just avoid using YouTube, the iTunes Store or AppStore until you have a WiFi connection. For those of you willing to dish out $115 to get the 2GB plan however, things don’t fare much better though. Sure, you can do the above activities 5x more than those on the $60/400MB plan, and even enjoy a bit of daily YouTube or iTunes downloads while on the go, don’t expect to be able to watch YouTube videos every day to pass your 30 minute train ride to and from work, because you’ll use up that 2GB of data real fast.
OK, so our data plans suck compared to the US, who get unlimited data for $30/month. So while we have a bit of breathing room to enjoy the features of the iPhone, we’re still stuck keeping an eye on our usage if we want to avoid expensive overage charges. If it were any other cell phone, we wouldn’t mind so much, but the iPhone is such an internet-rich device, and so fun and useful, that it really is a shame that we don’t have plans that let us truly use and enjoy the device.
So what else is there to complain about? Well, the lack of call display and a decent amount of included sent SMS text messages (only 75 on the $60 plan), which requires you to spend an extra $15 or more on an “iPhone value pack”. SMS texting is another one of the iPhone’s strengths, with it’s IM-like interface. Once again, Rogers iPhone plan stifles a great iPhone feature, rather than encouraging it’s use. The lack of call display is frankly a joke in this day and age. I’m surprised they aren’t charging us extra for “touch tone” service too.
Then there’s the matter of the unlimited evenings and weekends included with every plan. Rogers defines “evenings” as after 9pm. Me thinks they’re stretching the definition of evening pretty far. To have your evenings start at a more reasonable 6pm is going to cost you an extra $20/month for an iPhone Value Pack that includes call display and 10,000 sent text messages. Gee, thanks!
One positive to the Rogers and Fido plans is the inclusion of unlimited WiFi access at any Rogers or Fido WiFi hotspot. For those living in urban areas where these hotspots are readily available, this will be a major benefit, but will be hit and miss depending on the individual. Most people will likely not make any use of this feature whatsoever though, which means it adds very little value to the average user.
These plans frankly weren’t a big surprise to me. Rogers is in a very different market situation here in Canada than say AT&T south of the border. AT&T was in a floundering position and desperate to increase it’s market share, with other providers competing on the exact same GSM technology. Here in Canada, Rogers is the only GSM provider, and is already in a dominant position. They have zero competition for the iPhone, period. Bell and Telus’ networks are just not compatible with the iPhone’s GSM standard. The situation isn’t going to get any better until either Bell or Telus convert their network to GSM, or Apple releases a version of the iPhone that’s compatible with the CDMA/EVDO technology that Bell and Telus use.
If there’s any upside to Rogers iPhone data plans however, it has to be that they’re a major improvement over any previous data plans Rogers has offered before. When I first covered using an unlocked iPhone in Canada back in September of last year, we were paying $10 for 10MB per month, on top of your voice plan, and 3¢ per KB thereafter! To put that in perspective, it would have cost nearly $12,000 to use 400MB of data on that plan, which could lead to some nasty surprises for anyone not savvy enough to watch their usage.
Rogers overage charges are now a much more affordable 50¢ per MB for the first 60 MB, 3¢ per MB thereafter. Meaning that an overage of 100MB that used to cost $3072 would now only cost $31.20. It’s hard not to argue this isn’t a huge leap in the right direction. If there’s anything to be positive about with the introduction of the iPhone to Canada, this has got to be it.
2 comments July 3rd, 2008