Rogers Increases Price of Data Overages by 40% for New Customers to $70/1GB

Wireless data isn’t getting cheaper in Canada when it comes to overages, as Rogers has hiked their prices for new customers by 40 per cent, jumping from $5 per 100MB to $7 per 100MB. That works out to $70 per gigabyte.

When we asked Rogers about why prices for data overages increased, the company responded in a statement, “We are always looking to deliver great value for money and service to our wireless customers.”

A spokesperson emphasized customers using their Data Manager tool within the MyRogers app should be able to stay within their data buckets. The company also noted text notifications are sent to customers when they reach 90 per cent and 100 per cent of their monthly data usage.

But while the data tracking tool may come it handy, it doesn’t address the reason why prices increased for data overages.

Rogers explained in a statement, “Our customers are using more data than ever and we’re constantly investing in our network to meet their demand for data and speed and have invested billions in the last 5 years. We’ve updated our plans so they’re more in line with our customers’ usage and offer them more value on their monthly rates.”

Yesterday, Rogers lowered the price of their 10GB Share Everything data plan by $15 per month for the first line and $10 per month for each additional line.

The price hike for new customers means they are now paying the same data overages as Bell, at the rate of $7 per 100MB (which came into effect this April).

We can only assume data overage prices are set to similarly increase for sub-brands Fido and Virgin Mobile. TELUS still charges $5 per 100MB, but there’s no word whether they will follow suit with their fellow incumbents.

Bruce Cran, president of the Vancouver-based Consumers’ Association of Canada, told Global News the move doesn’t service customers well, and that he was “surprised and disappointed” at hearing about the change.