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Sign the petition

http://www.petitiononline.com/iPhone99/petition.html

To add insult to injury, "evenings" starts at 9:00 pm.

The plan doesn't even include call display.

Jun 28, 08 - 10:46 am Comment from: Ampar

That sucks.

Rogers . . over and out?

There should be a French site also that can be used for the balance of the Canadians.

So what would the French translation of the wed site be? http://www.________Rogers.com

@ Jersey_Trader:

That would be http://www.MangeDlaMardeRogers.com !

Jun 28, 08 - 11:05 am Comment from: HotinPlaya

TelCel in Mexico is offering unlimited data for $90.00 usd , and 200 MB for $68.00 usd

How much is 200 MB ??

Jun 28, 08 - 11:06 am Comment from: BiZarRo BaLlmEr

"that doesn't sound good to me Oveur" over

Jun 28, 08 - 11:07 am Comment from: Mozfan

BelovedWife and I have iPhones and we already had AT&T;so I don't know if it's different for others who came over to the carrier specifically for the iPhone, but our voice rate stayed the same and AT&T;gave us the unlimited data (200 text) for $20 a month each.

The Canadian plan says voice and data rates ($59 to $114) while the AT&T;rates specify data for $30. Could it be that people are comparing apples to oranges. My voice plan was about $50 a month (plus the $20 for data) and is now about $70 (plus $10 for her line and $20 for her iPhone data package).

This seems to make the Canadian plan look better, not worse. If I remember correctly, we have a family plan with 700 (or 800) anytime minutes, free nights and weekends (nights @ 7pm?) and unlimited mobile to mobile (but I'm not sure if that is just our plan phones or any AT&T;mobile). The plan includes rollover minutes and a spare line for our son (albeit on a lesser phone). All this for $110 or so plus taxes and fees.

This would put the Canadian plan pretty close if the plan they quote includes your voice service and is not just data. In fact, since the plan includes unlimited access to a wi-fi network, the Rogers plan might be much better.


~M

Jun 28, 08 - 11:15 am Comment from: Spark

Mozfan, check your math.

This is the potential iPhone killer. Carriers. We are still in the 1970's and expensive long distant times. This is worst than the RIAA.

As much as I feel the prices are outrageous, I'm stunned at how expensive the plans are in continental Europe, and how little data is available on those plans.

My big concern is overages; does anybody know if it's technically possible (at least through the SDK) for the iPhone to measure internet usage through the 3G and EDGE networks (as opposed to WiFi)?

A Rogers rep said there's "no way" for the company to offer users a way to track their 3G/EDGE usage to ensure they stay under their limit on their phones, until the bill gets calculated...in other words, we have to be very wary of potentially data-intensive usage such as GPS - Google Maps or YouTube or the iTunes Music Store...ridiculous...even the highest end plan is only ~ 68 MB per day....still better than France's "reasonable usage" 500 MB cap (~16 MB per day!!!) though...

"This is the potential iPhone killer. "

Damn commies. Half of the country doesn't even speak a proper language. Obama will need to invade and liberate Canada.

Jun 28, 08 - 11:42 am Comment from: Mozfan

@Spark,

My Family Plan $50
My iPhone Data $20
Wife's add-a-line $10
Wife's iPhone Data $20
Son's add-a-line $10


50 + 20 = 70
70 + 10 = 80
80 + 20 = 100
100 + 10 = 110

110 + taxes & fees (all of which I mentioned in my post)

Is this the math of which you were concerned?

~M

http://www.IFartInYourGeneralDirectionRogers.com

@Mozfan

3 phones for the same price as 1 is not equal.

Jun 28, 08 - 12:11 pm Comment from: mrmikey

Part of the problem with Roger's plan is that "unlimited evenings and weekends" starts at 9:00 pm. To get that to 6:00pm, you have to add the $20/month "iPhone Bundle"

Another problem is that the $60 (actually $80) only includes 400 MB of data. Additional data is 50¢/MB up to 60 MB, then 3¢/MB. If you went to the 2GB the expensive plan calls for, that's about $75 of overage charges, or $160/month. You would almost have to go to the expensive plan, or $135/month. (I'm including the $20 "Value Bundle" as a matter of course).

Add about another $15/month for the various "addtional fees" (system access fee, 911 fee, etc), and that brings us up to $150/month.

Another problem is that it's a three-year plan, which is typical in Canada. Assuming no data overage charges over the life of the plan, a Canadian iPhone user with the max service will pay (drum roll please) $5400.00. Plus the $199 or $299 upfront. Plus whatever apps you buy from the iApp store. If you have a WiFi network at home, you may as well add in the $29 to $60/month you're paying for that, as well.

Needless to say, it adds up pretty fast. I'm now leaning farther and farther toward the iPod Touch....

@Mozfan

No data plan for your son?

No Google Maps for him?

No weather info for him?

No email for him?

How old is he 7 years old?

Or are you a . . . well everybody knows what you would be
if your son is older than 12, has an iPhone and no data plan!

On the rollout of the 3G iPhone last month I made the prediction the Rogers aka Fido (better known as Robbers) would undoubtedly make the iPhone the first failure at launch. Having denied Canadians the phone for a year they intend to gouge their customers as is their habit. Send the petition to Apple and ask Apple to cancel the contract. At over $1400 per year for a LIMITED DATA PLAN, no warantee coverage beyond a year, a THREE YEAR contract very few will bite. Plus Robbers also charges an extra $84 year for their infamous Systems charge. And you can bet there'll be extra monthly costs for BASIC phone services (call display, etc.).
Buy an unlocked phone (or an iPod Touch) go VOIP, use WiFI and moon Ted whenever you can.
Terry

This is simply outrageous, almost criminal..and I had so high hopes for the iPhone only to be let down by Rogers once again.

Jun 28, 08 - 12:58 pm Comment from: bobchr

@ all Canadiens, how much of the cost of these plans are actually taxes or are there taxes on top of this? I know that Canada boast a free National health care plan but do Canadien corporation pay an inordinate amount of excess salaried through bloated salaries to the rank and file which then allows the government of Canada to collect 1/2. Ever wonder why There are fewer and fewer NHL Hockey teams up there? As for me personally I'm tired of teams from Florida, Dallas , LA and Phoenix beating up on my Rangers and Islanders. Most of your actors and sports heroes claim US addresses so they can keep more of what they earn, even the European ones.

Rogers may not be charging these fees just because they can, they may have to to not only survive but improve service. I agree that some of the plans do seem draconian in price terms but I believe a poster to a similar topic believes Iphone rate plans in Europe is just as if not more expensive than Rogers plans. If you have a lot of wifi hot spots you are not going to be using rogers 3G network as often.

The fact that you can turn on and off 3G means that you can throttle your data rate but you probably won't want to. I've use my cell phone in Canada. I once got charges $150 for a 45 minute phone call from a hotel near Vancouver BC's airport to Salt Lake City Utah and I was receiving the call not initiating it. In retrospect I should have told them I would call them back in a couple of days when I was back in the states.

@Obama Supporter

"Damn commies. Half of the country doesn't even speak a proper language. Obama will need to invade and liberate Canada."

<sarcasm>I'm sure Obama would we proud of your statement...</sarcasm>

Criss d' d'imbécile!

Jun 28, 08 - 01:03 pm Comment from: Brau

As much as I like to see this petition happening, I know it won't do a damn thing. Roger's knows they have a captive market with no other "legal" options so they are going to bilk it for all it's worth. I blame the CRTC for caving to media/communication company lobbyists who conspire against the consumer by ensuring any new upstart businesses are bound by "non-competition" contracts; in other words other providers must offer different services to acquire a license to do business and cannot compete directly with the same services. All it does is ensure the Canadian consumer loses at every turn and fill the pockets of lazy businesses who act more like mafia than true providers.

Jun 28, 08 - 01:03 pm Comment from: Ampar

Is this the same great Pirate Rogers of the Carrier being the unscrupulous knave of yore?

Jun 28, 08 - 01:04 pm Comment from: Roberto

Francly, that's too much.

Has anyone else tried to fill out the Competition Bureau Enquiry/Complaint form and been able to submit it? I have tried twice on both Safari and Firefox and I keep getting error 404?

@bobchr

About NHL canadian hockey teams, don't forget that even if we have less teams than 10 years ago, 5 of the 6 most profitable hockey teams in the NHL are from Canada. Only New York is on the 5th spot.

With the revenue sharing agreement amongs all teams, without the canadian teams, there will be no NHL. With a stronger canadian $, this reality is even more important than ever.

Regarding taxes, I agree with you, part of the Rogers fees are related to hidden taxes because, otherwise, they will make a lot of profits and it's not the case right now. Yes they are making profits but not as uch as people thinks.

Remember also that since 2006, strenght of the canadian $ will help all companies to invest in newer technologies. Rogers and other telcos were facing very low canadian $ in the 90's and I'm not sure they were able to reduce their operating cost as much as the US telcos were able to do it during the same time with a stronger US $. This is reflected in the US rates when we are comparing it to the canadians one.

The reality is that Rogers is not ready to take the risk of reducing their monthly rates with higher number of clients because the first wave of iPhone buyers will be the ones that will use more than the average bandwith for data. These clients will not be profitable unless they have a ratio of 2 to 4 (I guess) low bandwith clients for one high bandwith. It will take a year or two before the rates will go down.

Anywaym I will buy an iPhone July 11th even with those rates. I need it as an Apple consultant.

@ andrew250cc
Yes, I've tried twice, as well. Their website is broken.

@ Opportun
Your logic is sound about the first wave of iPhone buyers and Rogers making sure their costs are covered, but there's a few points to note.

1. If you get a free phone with your contract, you can get a replacement phone at no extra cost during your term. This means the cost of a replacement phone is *already* built into the phone. How many people take advantage of that "feature"? Rogers is reaping the rewards here.

2. Rogers charges this famous System Access Fee, on top of the plan fee. If the plan fee was to cover the cost of the service, what is the System Access Fee for? It's just a fancy way of lining their bank accounts.

3. And the big one -- go over your plan limits for voice minutes and data, or use data when your plan doesn't cover it (this is possible), and they charge you A LOT! I used my Nokia phone's bluetooth to give my computer access to the Net for just a few minutes and got billed $25!! Their overage rates are way too high.

The iPhone plans need a better balance between limits and lower overage charges to make them worthwhile. The advertised price points aren't insulting, but the final monthly total (after SAF, Caller ID, taxes) is insulting. There no reason why Caller ID should be extra. Go over your limit, and your bill goes into the hundreds very quickly. My current $40 plan currently stands at $125 for this month after using a little data.

I just called Rogers becuase I noticed a pretty glaring omission on the site. Has anyone else noticed that there is no mention of long distance charges? I couldn't even find a per-minute price on Rogers (Fido breaks it down well explaining what is charged as long dist etc..) so I called and the rep there pretty much has the same info as that page. SHe said most likely the regular flat rate $0.35/min.

I also enquired about if you can change plans during your contract and she said she doesn't know for sure but you might have to sign a NEW 3 year contract extension from the time of rate plan change.... if that is the case there is NO WAY IN HELL I am singing up. I am never going to limit myself to a plan today for the next three years, that is ludicrous. Though the rep did seem down to earth, she mentioned that she figured most people would buy the lowest plan, resulting in overage charges and she said she could see them possibly having to allow people to change plans etc... because of the backlash of overage fees but she was just speculating.

I might try to call Fido, though I am guessing I will get the same lack of info regarding the rate plan changes.

Here is the response I got from Rogers when I emailed them regarding their iPhone price plans:

Dear _______,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us, we appreciate your use of online customer service.

In your recent email, you have informed us that you are not happy with the price plans that Rogers is offering with the Iphone.

Rogers? price plans for the Iphone are just the preliminary pricing and could change depending on Rogers customer needs and wants. You can keep checking the Rogers web site for lunch and the final price plan offers.

We are pleased to have been able to address your inquiry. For
additional information, please visit our website at http://www.rogers.com.

You are a valued customer and we thank you for your business.

Regards,
Marc C.
Rogers Online Customer Service
http://www.rogers.com

Stop whining and pay me, otherwise I will call Steve and then there will be no more iPhone for you - ever!

Be grateful I brought you the damn phone.

When comparing Canadian and American iPhone plans, remember that those anytime minutes in the USA mean anywhere in the USA ie: no long distance charges.

The Canadian anytime minutes are for local calls only. Out of town calls will include separate charges for long distance.

Rogers is a black hole sucking up customers money and pissing it away on the Blue Jays American League Baseball team. If you're into baseball and live in Toronto, that may take some of the sting out of your phone bill.

For the other 99% of Canadians, you're screwed.

As for me, I'm trying to get Ted Rogers to adopt me.

One thing that would make me VERY happy (if we are stuck with these rates) is to do something much different than competitors. Have a SLIDING plan schedule. For instance, if you go over phone minutes and/or data, instead of being charged an astronomical amount, your plan scales to the next level (or to a lower level if you don't reach those targets). A little insurance if one month you jump up to a GB or something crazy, you are fairly capped as your plan would simple scale up to the 1GB price.....Of course you can call and complain when you get your bill and they will change your plan and reimburse you but it should be automatic.

Ted is a great guy, I wonder if he himself has an unlimited free data plan at home? I mean imagine that, surfing and talking with the iPhone 24h for free whoaaa...

tgarbutt is correct.
Sending a petition to the fox to give up his key to the henhouse just will not work.
Contact Apple instead, and say that you and your (many) friends and (huge) family are Canadians who desperately want to buy an iPhone, but that you cannot agree to Rogers' egregious rate plan.

Tell Apple that you're surprised that a customer-focused company like Apple would climb in to bed with such a scum-sucking pirate as Ted Rogers, and that you think this Apple-Rogers deal will more hurt Apple's reputation than help it.

Apple, you are known by the company you keep.

Jun 28, 08 - 04:16 pm Comment from: mrmikey

@Missy Pants

Contacting Apple in this case won't help. Due to the vagaries of the Canadian wireless market, Apple had zero choice on who to choose "to get into bed with." Rogers (and their subsidiary, Fido) are the only carriers in this country that have the right kind of radio for the iPhone. Neither Telus or Bell support the type of radio the iPhone uses.

I do wish they had wrung a better deal out of Pirate Ted for us Canadians, however.

Nope... not going to do it.

I'll wait, maybe until November or December, maybe longer.

It is usury and nothing less.

Not going to do it.

Jun 28, 08 - 04:18 pm Comment from: Canuck

Rogers is a wireless rape artist.

Jun 28, 08 - 04:30 pm Comment from: Huck

Is this really much worse than the U.S. plan?

The main difference may be that Canadian customers are willing to at least try to stand up for consumer rights. U.S. customers, at this point, are clearly just whipped--there's practically no new form of short-sighted extortion we won't stand for from our oligopolies. Our FCC is their happy captive.

Hello, bandwidth capping; unbelievable cable TV bills; carrier lock-in and huge contract-exit fees; double billing of phone calls . . . I probably don't need to go on.

Jun 28, 08 - 04:37 pm Comment from: Macintosh Sauce

Thank God I had enough sense to leave Canada in 2002.

Maybe somewhat off-topic:

What if Apple offered plans for families in which several members own an iPhone?

And I mean not only cut-rate dialling between family members (as with many ordinary mobile phone subscriptions), but also a discount for the joint data plans.

But more importantly shouldn't Apple Offer me.com at an interesting price point for iPhone families? That could create truly be a groundbreaking business opportunity.

Jun 28, 08 - 05:28 pm Comment from: fastmemory

Hey, everybody, take a deep breath and look in the mirror. What you see staring back at you is the problem, big time. AT&T;and Rogers, and numerous other worldwide carriers, are like sharks. They've picked up on all of the salivating over theiPhone and they have priced their plans accordingly.

I agree, the plans are absolutely obscene, but it's all your fault, period. Get over it.

Jun 28, 08 - 05:49 pm Comment from: Connor MacBook

Presumably there'll be an unlocked version. The best way to stick it to 'em is to buy that one.

Jun 28, 08 - 05:52 pm Comment from: Connor MacBook

P.S. It's funny, Aussies are anticipating similar rates with nary a hint of protest.

"I'm sure Obama would we proud of your statement..."

Obama hates everyone different to himself, not just Muslims, women and small town Americans.

And lets face it, everyone hates the French and especially people who speak French when they don't have to.

"P.S. It's funny, Aussies are anticipating similar rates with nary a hint of protest."

All Australians are descended from criminals, they're still figuring out how to steal it.

Jun 28, 08 - 06:37 pm Comment from: ron

Obamamama supporter.
"Damn commies. Half of the country doesn't even speak a proper language. Obama will need to invade and liberate Canada."

Barrack Hussein Obama IS a Marxist, as is his momma. Between them, they'll finish the USA.

Obama supporter, vas te faire foutre, sale con! T'es une honte pour Obama.

Pas de soupe pour toi!

Obama supporter, tu ne sais rien de l'histoire du Canada! Je sais!

Obama supporter, I won't quit now, just in case, you never know, remember Bobby Kennedy supporter...

McCain supporter, are you sure you will make it till november, you look tired and sound a little confused, I better hang around...