Rogers has released the iPhone plan pricing and I’m disappointed. With only two GSM carriers in Canada both owned by Rogers (Rogers and Fido) there is no competition. This in turn means there is a GSM monopoly in Canada and firm pricing plans. Needless to say I don’t think I’ll be activating a new contract with Rogers at those price points. I will outright buy the phone and use my existing SIM card/plan. There are rumors Rogers will only allow people to purchase the iPhone with a contract as AT&T in the US has done. If this is the case Rogers has lost a sale. It’s not that much effort to travel to the US and purchase a 3G iPhone, unlock it, and use it in Canada as many thousands have done with the previous model iPhone.
There is growing resentment online against Rogers for their stifling iPhone pricing. At these prices I am in their corner.
The new iPhone rolls out 11 July 2008 in Canada - will be interesting to see if anything interesting transpires.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Those prices are outrageously restrictive and high. I’m surprised Apple didn’t learn from the US release that their customers want to be able to choose carriers instead of being forced into a contract with a carrier they don’t particularly like.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:39 am
JB:
I don’t think the issue is with Apple in this case, but with Rogers. Rogers has always been known to have insanely high price points for data in Canada. The same is true with Telus/Aliant/Bell et al. Canada has high price points for data plans. The iPhone in Canada could have been the device to create competition and drive innovation in this field - but with monopoly comes lack of motivation or innovation - the two GSM cell companies in Canada re both owned by Rogers. Whereas in the US many people unlocked the AT&T phones and went to T-mobile.