Kim Werker

iPhone in Canada: Zoiks!

July 1, 2008

We know I’ve wanted an iPhone heartily. I’ve blogged about it, Twittered about it, talked about it, dreamed about it. We know it’s coming to Canada two days after my birthday. What we didn’t know until last week was how Rogers (the only company in Canada that supports the network the iPhone uses) was going to price its plans. In short, the plans are fairly appalling (even more so in light of AT&T announcing they’ll offer the phones in the U.S. for a higher price without a contract).

I’m severely bugged by this. On one hand, the plans are outrageous and Rogers’ insistence that they designed the plans with their consumers’ needs in mind is a patronizing load of crap. I wrote to Rogers to complain last week, and received a response this morning that included this paragraph (the emphasis is mine):

“Please be aware that the plans unveiled were designed specifically for the iPhone. At this time, all pricing and plans that will be available for the iPhone have yet to be finalized.”

I can only hope that in the next ten days, Rogers will finalize some plans that include the following: An unlimited data option, an option for new customers that allows them to add unlimited data onto a voice plan of their choosing (as is now being offered to existing customers, if I read reports correctly), a voice plan that includes long distance (especially long distance to the U.S., which might be required by business users, and by me so I can phone my parents when I’m out and about), call display included in all plans ($7/month extra, seriously?), and an option for one- or two-year contracts. Actually, they should follow AT&T’s lead and offer the phone at full, unsubsidized price with no minimum contract. I’d happily pay full price for the phone if it meant I wouldn’t be screwed up, down and all around by my service provider.

So. Help me out with some friendly advice, eh? Should I put off getting the phone until Rogers comes around? Should I put off getting the phone as part of a collective effort to help convince Rogers to come around? Should I just get the phone because I want it so bad (as one old friend reminded me, we do have universal health care, after all)? Should I just get the phone because it would be unrealistic to think Rogers would ever come around?

ETA (2 July): I nearly forgot another factor. Part of Rogers’ plans is free wifi at all Rogers/Fido hotspots. Which is cool, from what I understand, if you live in Rogers-dominated eastern Canada. But out here in the west, it’s Telus land. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Rogers hotspot. This is one of the things that lead Canadians to refer to our cell phone situation as monopolized. Grr.

12 responses to “iPhone in Canada: Zoiks!”

Mom
July 1, 2008
Activist daughter of mine: Fight for what is right.
Notify Apple of the obvious lack of equal treatment being afforded to their potential Canadian consumers. I assume that Apple has entered a contract agreement with Rogers and would not wish to have their international sales suffer as a result of this pricing.
Reply
Mom
July 1, 2008
Activist daughter of mine: Fight for what is right.
Notify Apple of the obvious lack of equal treatment being afforded to their potential Canadian consumers. I assume that Apple has entered a contract agreement with Rogers and would not wish to have their international sales suffer as a result of this pricing.
Reply
Kim Werker
July 1, 2008
@Mom: You can smile, Mom: I sent a letter to Apple a couple of days ago. :)
Reply
Kim Werker
July 1, 2008
@Mom: You can smile, Mom: I sent a letter to Apple a couple of days ago. :)
Reply
Cecily
July 1, 2008
I say buy the phone and hack it/open it so that you can use it with the carrier of YOUR choosing. Own your phone, own your service, don’t let them own you. We are likely going to pass on the new round of iPhones (even though we want them!) and get super simple phones instead. If I did get an iPhone I wouldn’t be using AT&T, but simply making the alterations needed to use the slightly less abusive T-Mobile.
Reply
Cecily
July 1, 2008
I say buy the phone and hack it/open it so that you can use it with the carrier of YOUR choosing. Own your phone, own your service, don’t let them own you. We are likely going to pass on the new round of iPhones (even though we want them!) and get super simple phones instead. If I did get an iPhone I wouldn’t be using AT&T, but simply making the alterations needed to use the slightly less abusive T-Mobile.
Reply
Amy J.
July 2, 2008
I’ll just say that, until VERY recently, I was using an almost 8 YEAR OLD cellphone–oh yeah baby, I was kickin’ it old skool! However, the battery JUST died (it’s as old as the phone–they obviously don’t make them anymore) and forced me to get a ‘fancy-pants’ LG flip phone. I don’t think I’ll be touching the iPhone for another decade or two :). But I say you should try and wait, at least for a little while, to see if Rogers will become more reasonable (it’s like when people bought the iPhone in the US for like $400 the moment it came out and then Apple lowered the price a couple of months later by a whopping $100). It sounds like they’re just trying to screw those people who REALLY want an iPhone as soon as it’s released in Canada. Fight the man, Kim!
Reply
Amy J.
July 2, 2008
I’ll just say that, until VERY recently, I was using an almost 8 YEAR OLD cellphone–oh yeah baby, I was kickin’ it old skool! However, the battery JUST died (it’s as old as the phone–they obviously don’t make them anymore) and forced me to get a ‘fancy-pants’ LG flip phone. I don’t think I’ll be touching the iPhone for another decade or two :). But I say you should try and wait, at least for a little while, to see if Rogers will become more reasonable (it’s like when people bought the iPhone in the US for like $400 the moment it came out and then Apple lowered the price a couple of months later by a whopping $100). It sounds like they’re just trying to screw those people who REALLY want an iPhone as soon as it’s released in Canada. Fight the man, Kim!
Reply
Lee Ann
July 2, 2008
I encourage you to go searching for petitions to sign against Rogers as well…that’s what we’re going to do. We, too, were jumping up and down crazy-wanting iPhones (we have iPod Touches which we both adore but you can’t call on those and our current cellphones are such old crapola we really need something else). But Rogers’ plans are INSANE. So for now, Nokia, here we come, and we fight the Rogers Man. Honestly, getting a Rogers plan right now would be like saying Thank You For Shafting Us.
My instant-gratification-resistance is being severely tested, though…I feel your pain. :-(
Reply
Lee Ann
July 2, 2008
I encourage you to go searching for petitions to sign against Rogers as well…that’s what we’re going to do. We, too, were jumping up and down crazy-wanting iPhones (we have iPod Touches which we both adore but you can’t call on those and our current cellphones are such old crapola we really need something else). But Rogers’ plans are INSANE. So for now, Nokia, here we come, and we fight the Rogers Man. Honestly, getting a Rogers plan right now would be like saying Thank You For Shafting Us.
My instant-gratification-resistance is being severely tested, though…I feel your pain. :-(
Reply
Kim Werker
July 2, 2008
@Cecily: Alas, Rogers is the only carrier in Canada that supports GSM. (Ok, Fido does to, but it’s owned by Rogers.)
@Amy J.: If it were Apple behind this, I’d actually have hope. But Apple has nothing to do with the Rogers plans, and if they’re navigating this PR nightmare so poorly, I don’t really think they’ll change their tune in six months. There wasn’t outcry over the original iPhone price — it was certainly geared to early adopters. But there was outcry after the price drop, and Apple gave refunds. Because their marketing people are good and they force the business people to listen. At Rogers, it’s as if the marketers were plucked from the local high school, given a microphone, and told to go deal with the public. No more ranting for me until the coffee kicks in. :)
@Lee Ann: I have a strong will. This might be its match, though. Aargh. (It’s not a factor of going elsewhere, though. For nearly two years I’ve only had a U.S. cell phone for work; I can live without a local cell. The voice plans aren’t the issue for me.)
Reply
Kim Werker
July 2, 2008
@Cecily: Alas, Rogers is the only carrier in Canada that supports GSM. (Ok, Fido does to, but it’s owned by Rogers.)
@Amy J.: If it were Apple behind this, I’d actually have hope. But Apple has nothing to do with the Rogers plans, and if they’re navigating this PR nightmare so poorly, I don’t really think they’ll change their tune in six months. There wasn’t outcry over the original iPhone price — it was certainly geared to early adopters. But there was outcry after the price drop, and Apple gave refunds. Because their marketing people are good and they force the business people to listen. At Rogers, it’s as if the marketers were plucked from the local high school, given a microphone, and told to go deal with the public. No more ranting for me until the coffee kicks in. :)
@Lee Ann: I have a strong will. This might be its match, though. Aargh. (It’s not a factor of going elsewhere, though. For nearly two years I’ve only had a U.S. cell phone for work; I can live without a local cell. The voice plans aren’t the issue for me.)
Reply

iPhone in Canada: Zoiks!

12 responses to “iPhone in Canada: Zoiks!”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply