iPhone pricing and Rogers Wireless
Could Rogers Wireless be pricing the iPhone out of the Canadian market?
As we all know, the iPhone is a GSM phone. Canada's lone GSM provider is Rogers Wireless. Back in April, Rogers made a point of telling CBC that they had not announced their intentions to carry the iPhone. Two months later (this past June 17th), an article appeared in the Globe and Mail in which Rogers' CFO said, "The truth is we aren't very far with Apple...." Apparently, no progress had been made.
What's the hold up? Perhaps Apple has been concentrating their resources on a successful American launch. Or perhaps Rogers' plans would price the phone out of the reach of most Canadian customers.
According to an article in The National Post by Peter Nowak, Rogers' most basic wireless plan ("Right Fit") is a far cry from AT&T's entry-level plan. While AT&T offers 450 anytime minutes, 5,000 evening & weekend minutes, unlimited data and 200 text messages for $60US/mo., Rogers is offering* 250 anytime, zero weekends, 25MB of data and an additional fee for texts for a whopping Canadian $97/mo. (US $93, as of this writing). Building a Rogers plan comparable to the AT&T basic would make the iPhone available exclusively to wealthy shoppers.
It has been reported that Apple has demanded (and received) a substantial cut of subscription revenues for the US iPhone, leading to friction with potential European partners. Perhaps Rogers and Apple are stubbornly butting heads over who gets the bigger slice of the pie? That might explain Rogers trying to squeeze customers for a few extra loonies.
*According to Nowak. We could not find details on the "Right Fit" plan.
