Rogers’ iPhone: How much it will really cost [Part III]

Rogers claims that its 400 MB plan would allow users to view 3,100 web pages while its 2GB plan would allow 16,000 page views. However, according to our cursory tests, the lowest data transferred was at Digg.com, coming in at 466kb, putting the monthly page views on the 400MB plan around 880 per month and the 2GB plan at 4,400 per month. This means that, even at the lowest end of the spectrum, Rogers has underestimated the data transfer rate by 3.5 times. In our monthly data usage, at 450MB, we achieved a paltry 369 page views.

Obviously if you’re using the iPhone for anything less than barebones browsing, then you’re going to want to upgrade to a larger plan. 

Below the total cost of owning an iPhone for three years at Rogers is broken down into two categories:

Low-end cost:

3-yeart contract at $60 a month: $199 initial cost + monthly fees (60×36=2160)=$2359

High-end cost:

3-year contract at $115 a month: $199 initial cost + monthly fees (115×36=4140)=$4339 

Roughly $2000 difference between the two and we’ve already shown the low-end data plan to be sufficient only for the most casual of browsers. Such a pricing model not only gouges customers, it also stifles one of the worlds most active technology markets. It has recently been reported that Canadians on the whole are quite eager to adopt new technology, especially when it comes to mobile internet. By offering the bare minimum as the entry into the iPhone market, Rogers has gone counter to the model set worldwide of unlimited data and further hindered a market in which consumers are more than willing to embrace technological advances.

Furthermore, the iPhone was designed to be the harbinger of mobile web for the masses; it’s easy, it’s fast, and sometimes it’s just plain fun. What jeopardizes that entire experience is the nagging voice in the back of your head telling you you’re tallying up too much of your download cap. And what are the odds that the average consumer is going to anticipate how much browsing their going to do and how much data they’d typically consume in a month? Rogers has no reservations misinforming their consumers by claiming grossly inflated numbers when it comes to page views, so I’d bet the in-store employees are going to be less than forthcoming on this issue. 

All of this begs the question: just what was Apple waiting for? Speculation held that the iPhone wasn’t going to make it into Canada until Rogers agreed to provide fair and comparable rates to match those south of the border. While this painted Apple in a pleasant light, standing up for Canadian consumers, it has turned out to be simply untrue. A petition and open letter to Steve Jobs is what the people have planned over at ruinediphone.com. Apple has always championed the fact that the iPhone is sold with unlimited data. What will they say now that they’ve given in to Rogers?