Newser from July 9's Financial Post on Apple's provider in Canada, Rogers Wireless, introducing a new price plan on data usage.
By Jamie Sturgeon
TORONTO -- Rogers Wireless Inc. caved to consumer pressure yesterday, temporarily slashing data fees on its smartphone plans just ahead of the carrier's launch of the vaunted iPhone 3G in Canada tomorrow.
"This is in direct response [to] what we heard from our customers," said Rogers spokeswoman Liz Hamilton yesterday. "They said they needed more data."
Customers who sign up for the new iPhone between July 11, when the device goes on sale, and the end of August will pay just $30 a month for access to six gigabytes of data usage. That's down significantly from the company's original 6-GB plan of $100 a month.
"I'm not surprised they came out with something that is a little more in line with consumer expectations," said new media strategist Alan Sawyer of Toronto-based Two Solitudes Consultants. "Consumers looked at the pricing for the iPhone in other markets and were clearly not satisfied with what Rogers was offering."
Still, the move has not completely satisfied some.
"It's an improvement, but it's still outrageously priced," said Robert Sheinbein, cofounder of consumer activist Web site ruinediphone.com.The Toronto-based Web developer said the site had received hundreds of e-mail messages from consumers yesterday in response to the price cut.
By noon, it posted a response: "Thank you Rogers for helping out. We still need more help. We need your offer to be (1) unlimited data, (2) not a limited time offer and (3) competitive rates on existing voice plans," the Web site said.
Other international wireless companies such as Verizon and AT&T in the United States offer the iPhone without any contract at all alongside near-unlimited voice and data usage, Mr. Sheinbein said.
"Why can you get a Verizon phone and talk throughout Canada and the United States without roaming or long-distance [charges] but you can't get a plan in Canada?"
There are many who share the sentiment. Mr. Sheinbein's Web site has collected more than 56,000 names on a petition it plans to present to Rogers in Toronto tomorrow.
Yet the 6-GB plan would enable a customer to send and receive more than 157,000 e-mails a month, or visit more than 35,000 Web pages, according to figures provided by Rogers.
Users can now use the iPhone the way it was intended, said Amit Kaminer, a consultant with Montreal-based Sea-Board Group, adding the promotional rate is "well within each customer's comfort zone."
However, buyers will still be required to sign a three-year contract with Rogers, and the new offer would be in addition to any voice plan a wireless customer subscribes to.
The promotional offer also extends to any Rogers customer who signs up for a next-generation smartphone, such as the forthcoming Black-Berry Bold.
The much-anticipated device goes on sale tomorrow at select Rogers Plus stores in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax, Calgary and Vancouver. Potential subscribers will have until Aug. 31 to take advantage of the offer.
Once it expires, the "jury is out" on whether or not consumers will begin to clamour for better rates again, Mr. Kaminer added.
"Once you offer that, it's hard to go back."
