From the homepage of ruinediphone.com:
“Everyone would like to say “NO THANKS” to Rogers/Fido for screwing our iPhone Canadian dream with poor data/voice plans [See image]. If you consider these plans not suitable, please sign this petition. On July 11th 2008, we will send a printed copy of all these messages to Rogers HQ to demonstrate our indignation toward them. We would like to say “Thank You, You” for signing this petition and helping the iPhone cause in Canada.”
To find out exactly why these folks over at ruinediphone.com are so miffed at Rogers, read on for an in-depth look at the rates and price plans that have over 20,000 people saying no to a Rogers branded iPhone in Canada.
In this three-part series we’ll be examining several aspects of Rogers’ iPhone price model and we’ll attempt to come to terms with what the actual cost will be to the average Canadian consumer. Above all, it should be kept in mind that the initial launch of the iPhone in the U.S. saw the phone being sold with a 2-year contract and unlimited data. At its highest AT&T charged $99 per month, with 1,350 minutes of calling time. Rogers, at its highest, offer $115 per month plans that provide 850 minutes and 2GB of data usage.
Perhaps the most startling aspect of the Rogers contracts is that they cap the download, starting at 400MB a month. This is in stark contrast with the American iPhone model established by AT&T and is counter to Apple’s approach in most countries to having unlimited data for their data-intensive phone. This is further expounded by the fact that the latest version of the iPhone and indeed the only version released in Canada is the 3G edition, which is designed to utilize a data-intensive network. But how much data does the average person use? Is capping even a problem? To illustrate the issue we’re going to take you through a month of operating an iPhone for what would be a low-to-medium browser. Check back tomorrow for the data break down. You may be surprised at how much you download as a casual browser.
