Rogers caves on iPhone 3G plans, offers up 6GB for $30 a month

Those kind, gentle Canadians have been oh-so-politely demanding a few heads on sticks ever since Rogers' super-spendy iPhone 3G price plans were announced. Well, apparently their cries have been heard, and now Rogers is launching a promotional offer along with the iPhone of 6GB of data for $30 a month -- not quite unlimited data, but close enough -- which can be added on top of any regular voice plan. The promo will be available for iPhone buyers who activate with a three year contract before August 31. Also, perhaps in a bid to dispel some nasty rumors about a major iPhone shortage, Rogers will be hosting 8AM launch day events at six Rogers Plus stores in major Canadian cities, complete with a free breakfast. Mmm, breakfast.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[OfflinePK @ Jul 9th 2008 10:32AM]

Free breakfast with the purchase of an iPhone!

Satisfaction has never been this attainable!

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jul 9th 2008 10:43AM]

Will there be Canadian Bacon? Mmmmmmmmmmmmm

[scott @ Jul 9th 2008 10:45AM]

will there be crepes and syrup, eh?

[Dale @ Jul 9th 2008 11:35AM]

Danish bacon > Canadian bacon > American bacon.

[vicferrari @ Jul 9th 2008 12:00PM]

i think it is just called bacon ... ;-)

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jul 9th 2008 12:29PM]

One time I purchased some Canadian Bacon in a bag in Toronto, and when I opened it, all I got was ham... :'(

[goonbag @ Jul 9th 2008 10:34PM]

You should see what Telstra here in Australia are charging for data packs...
AU$29 for 80 megabytes, with no sign of a special for iPhone3G!
http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/plans/browsing_packs.html

[EMoShunz @ Jul 9th 2008 10:32AM]

still not worth the price...at all. don't cave, my friends, do not buy it! hold off until they match what at&t is offering.

[LCDY @ Jul 9th 2008 10:40AM]

At least Rogers is not charging incoming SMS like Telus and Bell will do next month...

[EMoShunz @ Jul 9th 2008 10:45AM]

@LCDY:
true, but, bell and telus are only charging for incoming if you don't have a texting plan. and they at least offer that in an unlimited form.
rogers is the only gsm provider, and that is truly sad.

[Snitch @ Jul 9th 2008 10:57AM]

Rogers data plan is better than AT&T data plan now, AT&T tells you it's unlimited but go over 5GB a month, see what happens, but nobody uses that much data anyway

[Homeboy @ Jul 9th 2008 10:58AM]

It would have been worth it if the iPhone, like all high-end phones, could be used as a modem for your laptop.

[EMoShunz @ Jul 9th 2008 11:01AM]

@snitch:
at&t has a 'soft cap'. it doesn't stop you from using it, it just triggers them to monitor you for excessive use, and they call you, but they don't charge you any more.

[Saad Rabia @ Jul 9th 2008 11:08AM]

So, it's basically the same plan prices with an extra $30 for a 6GB.

What a ripoff!

I don't live in Canada, but my support goes with you guys over there; as EMoShunz said, hold on.

[Snitch @ Jul 9th 2008 11:12AM]

Yeah but can you imagine someone going other 6GB on any smartphone though????

[phoomp @ Jul 9th 2008 11:36AM]

@snitch:
yes. I'd be surfing and downloading video with that thing all the time.

[Cameron @ Jul 9th 2008 11:54AM]

AT&T offers "unlimited" data plans that are capped at 5GB of downloaded data. This is actually better.

[Sukhminder @ Jul 9th 2008 12:37PM]

It's not that bad now. In England you end up paying ~15 for up to 3 GB (T-Mobile), some its only 300 MB (non-iPhone o2). 6 GB for $30 add on to an existing plan? I'll take it.

[tiuk @ Jul 9th 2008 12:58PM]

It's good news, and I'm glad to hear a decent plan is being offered. I still won't be getting one, though. $30 for data, $30 for a voice plan, $11 for essentials (call display, voicemail, 125 text messages), $7.45 for 911/system access, pst/gst = ~$88.65

Sorry, but I just can't afford to pay that much for cell phone.

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 9th 2008 6:46PM]

HA! Good luck. AT&T is limited to 5GB anyway on their "unlimited plans"

[What the Frack?! @ Jul 9th 2008 10:34AM]

I'm enjoying breakfast now...

[Dillon @ Jul 9th 2008 11:41AM]

Enjoy your low ranking too...

[What the Frack?! @ Jul 9th 2008 5:52PM]

What? I was. It was a bowl of Cheerios.

[nanobis @ Jul 9th 2008 10:34AM]

It will be the most expensive breakfast ever.

but look at it this way, its a free iphone.

[EricR @ Jul 9th 2008 10:36AM]

Yeah, I love the idea of paying off my breakfast for the next two years....

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jul 9th 2008 10:44AM]

But what if they serve you cold pop tarts and a chewed pen cap?

[phoomp @ Jul 9th 2008 11:37AM]

@EricR
*3* years

[Shadowise @ Jul 9th 2008 10:36AM]

6GB sounds like more than enough for any normal user, especially at $30/mo... shame we'll never get prices like that in the UK... but a 3 year contract? You'd never catch me signing into something that long.

[Daviesifier @ Jul 9th 2008 10:43AM]

You do realise that in the UK unlimited data is included with all iPhone 3G contracts? the $30 the Canadians are paying is on top of their monthly fee for calls/sms' + video voicemail. Plus they have to sign up to a 3 year contract, double the length of the UK deals, so I wouldn't be too envious of the Canadians if i were you!

[Richy @ Jul 9th 2008 10:53AM]

Are you insane? Unlimited (properly nulimted too -- none of this run on rate crap if you go over your limit) data on T-Mobile is £7.50 a month. Or about $15 (both US and Canadian). The other networks probably offer something similar too.

[James @ Jul 9th 2008 11:43AM]

Um, no.

T-Mobile have a "fair use" limit of 1GB on their £7.50 / $15 "unlimited" data add-on. It also cannot be used for: phone-as-modem, P2P, internet calls. go over the limit, get a warning, throttled D/L speeds. It's all here:

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/uk/fairuse/

Orange, Voda and O2 are all more expensive than this. Voda laughably include only 500MB as their fair use limit for unlimited data.

3 are marginally better, giving you that 1GB for £5 / $10 (but you can actually go as high as 2GB before they switch you to a per-MB pricing structure), but still not great. At least they allow you free Skype-to-Skype and IM for that.

Facts straight get before posting please.

[Rich @ Jul 9th 2008 11:53AM]

"It also cannot be used for: phone-as-modem, P2P, internet calls. go over the limit, get a warning, throttled D/L speeds. It's all here:"

How many of those things can the iPhone actually do? How many are sanctioned under the iPhone SDK's terms & conditions?

[James @ Jul 9th 2008 12:03PM]

What do you mean?

My point is that none of the UK networks offer truly unlimited data, apart from (as far as I can tell anyway) O2's iPhone package.

The fact that what you CAN get from the networks is also restricted just makes things worse, but is not my main issue.

My take on things is that it's pretty difficult to use much more than a GB or two using a phone anyway, unless you can use it as a modem, so the 3, £5 deal for 2GB is pretty good for my purposes. Just don't like the use of the word "unlimited" when it really is nothing of the sort.

For what it's worth: iPhone lacks modem drivers, so cannot be used as a modem. It's only a matter of time before someone comes up with a good VoIP client (in fact haven't they already?), so it can be used for that. P2P, without modem use, is pretty much useless anyway. What's your point though?

[Richy @ Jul 9th 2008 2:29PM]

@James

Um yes.

Where did I say that you could use the service for P2P and VoIP etc? I just said T-Mobile won't charge you if you go over the 1 gig FUP. You can't actually do any of those things with an iPhone anyway, but that's another issue. In terms of usage, it's basically unlimited (or nulimited, thanks fat fingers). And won't cost you more.

You don't get something for nothing in this life. If you want VoIP and P2P and other bandwidth hogs, you'll have to pay for it (and T-Mobile do these too, if you're willing to pay more to get more).

My point is that you can get data that would be suitable for the iPhone for less than half the Rogers price.

Most people (that includes almost everyone who doesn't visit this blog) does not give a crap about VoIP or P2P from a mobile. Most people don't want to use their phone as a 'modem' (otherwise how do you explain the popularity of USB modems?).

T-Mobile have no run-on rates for UK data (and their roaming data is pretty cheap in comparison to others -- still expensive, but cheaper). If you consistently take the piss, you'll get your usage throttled, but you'd have to seriously cane it.

I suggest, James, you read what I actually wrote, and then take issue with that. And not take issue with something I never stated in the first place.

[James @ Jul 9th 2008 3:39PM]

Rich, like I said, I was only pointing out the lack of VoIP, modem use etc as a secondary grumble to my main issue:

You stated, point blank, that T-mob's web 'n' walk £7.50 addon is, and I quote (with spelling corrected), "true unlimited".

I stated that in no language does a 1GB "fair use" limit equal "true unlimited". They may not charge you if you go out of bundle, but they WILL throttle your service if you "cane" it (which current policy holds to be one month usage of 1.5GB).

I was just asking you to get the facts right. Unlimited does not equal 1GB/mth.

[Adisah @ Jul 9th 2008 10:36AM]

Free Breakfast, this is almost sounding better than the launch in the US. Nah, I think 6GB is unlimited for some people. That's much better than what they offered before. I think they should be able to get away with this.

[huh @ Jul 9th 2008 10:37AM]

I'm glad they caved, but it still leaves people in a position where they'll have to monitor their usage, and could inadvertently go over the limit and face a huge bill if they accidentally leave some browser window open, etc.

I'm very sad that the larger issue was missed here, reasonable internet rate plans for any wireless device in Canada. In the US the carriers have stated they will support any compatible device, in Canada you get second class treatment if you're not using one of the carrier's products, which will severely limit what people in this country can use on the wireless net.

[Brandon @ Jul 9th 2008 12:31PM]

Now, I'm no Roger's sympathizer. I really do hate the ****ers, but in fairness, they send you text messages at 80%, 90%, 95%, and 100% of usage to make sure know when you're about to go over.

[huh @ Jul 9th 2008 12:38PM]

Brandon, that won't help you much in terminal conditions. Don't you think it'd be better if you could choose to be disconnected before getting into the serious charges territory?

Granted, this is unlikely to happen with 6gb, but some will opt for their lessor plans.

I'm with Fido, and I don't receive the warning messages for voice usage, even though they've supposedly fixed the problem twice.

[initialxy @ Jul 9th 2008 10:38AM]

still very much of a rip off in my opinion. but i guess it makes us feel better especially after learning how the new zealanders are being owned big time.

[Mobius_1 @ Jul 9th 2008 10:38AM]

Good for you Canadians. Btw that pic isn't real, is it?

Sigh... Wish big corporations had a better sense of humour

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jul 9th 2008 10:45AM]

engadget actually photoshopped the original to say those things.

[Frankenstein Black @ Jul 9th 2008 10:38AM]

Don't believe the hype. Those cries fell on def ears cause Rogers has an extra layer of green $$ fat that covers their ear drum. No, the real credit goes to the "JobO the Hut Syndicate" who I'm sure did some major behind the scene arm twisting!

[andy @ Jul 9th 2008 10:39AM]

a step towards hope for mankind

[Drew Green @ Jul 9th 2008 10:41AM]

Doesn't effect me at all b/c I'm not getting an iPhone, and I don't live in Canada.

Just wanted to say though, that image is awesome. I lol'd.

[farfisa @ Jul 9th 2008 10:42AM]

I can't wait to find out how much money I'd save if I bundled it with other services!!!!

[GeePrime @ Jul 9th 2008 2:05PM]

Rogers gives discounts based on the number of services you sign up for. 2 services is like, 5% off your whole bill, 3, is 10%, and all 5 is 15%, or something like that.

Nobody seems to have noticed one thing here - this is an introductory offer only. Sign up after August 31st, and you get the shaft all over again!

[Groovy Guy @ Jul 9th 2008 10:43AM]

Close enough? Do you work for Rogers Mr. Miller?

Would you pay 30 dollars a month for 6GB data? Would you pay it when a rival company is offering Samsung Instincts with UNLIMITED DATA for $10 per month extra!?


You can write whatever you want, freedom of speech is great; but don't cave in so easily to such a terrible, absolutely terrible excuse for a data plan.

If you don't care enough about us Canadians getting ripped off, don't write the article.

We need unlimited data and pricing plans that are similar if not better than the plans offered by AT&T.

We need to eliminate access fees, terrible billing procedures, and we need to stop caving in to such tiny advances in the industry.

You think that anyone up here is going to fall for this? We are a bit smarter than that, so stop feeding the corporate pig would you Paul?

[gary @ Jul 9th 2008 10:52AM]

IT'S NOT UNLIMITED DATA. IT'S UNLIMITED BROWSING. GOD. So no unlimited data, okay? Just browsing on some crapass mobile browser.

[Rick @ Jul 9th 2008 10:59AM]

I don't think you're getting it...for Rogers this is HUGE considering as everyone has made very clear before, had the most expensive and least value-added plans. I was going to pay $30 for 300MB before I read this, THAT is ridiculous. 6GB on the iPhone 3G is more than enough and is close enough to unlimited, how many people have actually used 5+? Considering you can't tether the iPhone for data I have a very hard time believing it's even possible to reach 6GB, the app store isn't going to let you download applications more than 10MB(?) unless you download using iTunes or wifi. Is anybody going to be using bittorrent with their phone? Doubtful, that's what your computer is for. Maybe it's just me being ignorant but I can't see any possible way to use that much data on this phone at this point in time.

Yes Rogers is a big corporate pig and they suck blah blah etc, we know, I've been with them for 4 years and have had my gripes, they can be good at times, they can be terrible...shouldn't be saying that since I work for a dealer but hey! If people are going to continue to complain after being offered 6GB for $30, as compared to anything they've offered in the past that doesn't even come close to comparing...then I've lost a little more faith in humanity.