Rogers iPhone 3G Data Rates: Cheaper Than Expected?
*Edit: Sorry guys, I just got home from work and it should be $30 for 300MB, not 30MB. My apologies for the the typo!!!**
Many people out there want to find out some real important info from Rogers and Fido prior to signing their lives away to a 3 year contract for the upcoming iPhone 3G: What will wireless data rates be like?
Well according to a few news reports, Rogers Chief Operating Officer, Nadir Mohamed told Bloomberg that Rogers plans on switching to pricing that “drives adoption” and we will soon see “more value” in data plans. This all took place in Toronto at a news conference, where Rogers announced a 47 percent increase in Q1 wireless data sales–a hint that Canadians love their data, even if they’re being gouged for it.
Yesterday, Nadir also stated, “web browsing is real…it’s happening on mobile broadband and our pricing will change to reflect that … You will see more value in our pricing as we go forward.” So that confirms folks that Rogers plans on revealing some REAL data plans to Canadians that will make sense with the new iPhone 3G launch.
What about when it comes to Rogers and their high data rates? Mohamed’s answer was that their current rates were designed for an era of cellphones that focused on voice conversations and text messages, and that it was unfair to criticize Rogers for that. “Every time we’ve had a change, we’ve had pricing to reflect that change.”
So maybe we will give Rogers the benefit of the doubt, and we can assume that new rates will reflect a fair price for wireless usage–(insert loud, incredibly nasally Borat voice) NOT! Who are we kidding, we’ve seen extremely high rates over the years in terms of both voice and data–why would they want to change their model now?
Wireless subscribers have gone down for Rogers and they will most likely try to counter that loss through mass usage of wireless data. If rates are reasonable as stated, I can see how many people would jump on and surf away. Sure, let’s say we get a decent data plan. If it’s a capped plan, and the penalties for exceeding megabytes is quite severe, that’s another area where Rogers can reap in the profits. Does $0.05/kb ring a bell to anyone here?
However, if Canadians continue to receive Rogers branded handsets that are crippled (HTC Touches with WiFi disabled comes to mind) by Rogers so users are forced to pay for data, I can see revolts happening in the streets. I’m talking people walking around with 2×4′s stuck with rusty nails on the end. Let’s hope wireless spectrum bidding will actually create some new mobile competition in this country.
Until these new data plans are released, there’s no point in speculating about all the different pricing schemes we’re hearing about on the internet. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. These prices were “confirmed” by a Rogers rep, and relayed to me via Twitter (thanks minell!):
$30 for 300MB
$60 for 1GB
$100 for 6GB
See what I mean? I bet somewhere out there some Rogers employees are having so much fun spreading “news” to everyone about pricing. But until we see something official released, don’t believe everything you hear. But then again, if it’s on the internet, it must be true! 
What do you guys predict will arise out of these “new rates” coming our way? Are you excited yet?
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