Over the weekend, Rogers quietly increased the price of their U.S. Roam Like Home option, from $5 to $6 per day, a 20% increase, which has already come into effect for their subsidiary Fido as well. This is the first price increase we’ve seen for Roam Like Home since its launch three years ago.
Roam Like Home lets users make calls, text and use data from their existing monthly plan, while down in the U.S. The International option remains at $10 per day. Users are charged a max of 10 days per monthly bill, so it can be tricky to time your travels with your billing cycle.
iPhone in Canada reader Edison noticed the quiet change on the weekend, after he had logged into his account on the weekend, as under ‘My Extras’, the price of Roam Like Home had jumped to $6 per day. The Rogers and Fido websites were updated to reflect the change yesterday, to mark the official price increase, which kicked into effect today, August 22nd.
In comparison, Telus charges $7 per day for their Easy Roam option, while its flanker brand Koodo has prices starting at $30 for 3 days of U.S. roaming with 150MB of data and unlimited talk/text.
Bell and Virgin charges $5 per day for 100MB (and unlimited talk/text) for their U.S. roaming plan.
Videotron charges $6 per day for a similar roaming add-on option.
Want to roam for cheaper? Use a local SIM card and data plan or setup your plan before you leave Canada with Vancouver-based Roam Mobility, as an unlimited talk, text and data plan for U.S. roaming can be had for $4.95 per day (or cheaper on a monthly plan).
In July, Rogers increased the price of data overages by 40% for new customers to $70 per GB, while yesterday it was reported their “connection fee” has now jumped from $20 to $25.
The Big 3 and other wireless carriers will be unlocking phones for free and selling all devices unlocked this December, according to a CRTC ruling. The change will result in lost revenue for incumbents and fee prices look to make up for these losses.
Update: A Rogers spokesperson said in an emailed statement “Since we introduced the service, customers are using it more and more and we believe this service continues to offer great value with the ease, convenience, and predictability customers expect.”
Why the price increase? The extra funds will help offset increased costs associated with offering Roam Like Home.
