Data pricing from Rogers actually gets worse

June 5th, 2008Data pricing from Rogers actually gets worse

Posted by Editor in Rogers, datarates, wireless

Word from the ever vigilant Alec Saunders this week that data pricing at Rogers has actually gotten worse. The news, if you really want to here it, is that Rogers $65 1GB plan is no more, replaced by only a rather expensive $100/1GB option. Roger’s ‘vision’ $7 plan with all it’s caveats is now also only applicable to 3 year contracts – regardless if Rogers subsidized your phone or if you paid full price for an unlocked GSM phone on your own.

At Wirelessnorth.ca we’re somewhat in shock that data rates could actually trend upwards. There was a quote, one of the favourites from the recent eComm conference in silicon valley “Violating Moore’s law… ought to be a criminal offence”.

And meanwhile it’s another season and Rogers still has no roaming plans for data either. That’s 5 cents a kilobyte should you accidentally step a foot across the US border. And with wonderful HSDPA “vision” devices capable of 250kBytes/sec or more that’s an amazing $750/min in case anyone is counting.

Data pricing, especially over GSM, continues to be a travesty in Canada.

This new spectrum auction can’t end soon enough.

Link: Rogers “Vision” sucks on Saunderslog.

WirelessNorth

You are not missing anything. I am pretty sure that the roaming rate for any carrier on the planet roaming anywhere else on the planet is significantly less than what Rogers alone charges it's customers for roaming.

Though experiment, do you really think that AT&T in the US is charging Rogers anything close to $750 a minute for wholesale roaming minutes?
chowhar

Am I missing something here? I see T-Mobile US rates for roaming in Canada is $0.015/kb which is significantly less than the $0.05/kb Rogers/Fido on the same network. How does that work?!
Rick

Actually getting worse. Amazing. Thanks for this update, sort of.
roland

Whatever the reason is, the net-net is that we are making it harder for innovate in Canada and in the long run that costs us a whole lot more as a country than the negligible benefit to Rogers Shareholders (which is what I assume drives everything Rogers does. More transparency on why the rates are so high help but in the long rate the prices have to come down to I hate to say it "competitive world class levels" at least in the urban areas where over 75% of Canadians live!)
bobw

collusion, just maybe?
Ken Seto

This is unbelievable. Just when you think Rogers couldn't sink any lower.

Are they doing this to to make the upcoming and likely overpriced iPhone plan look good in comparison?

I can see it now: "instead of paying $100 for 1GB, you can pay $65 per 1GB with our 5 year iPhone contract!"
CL

Of course they're revising their plans, did you see their standing bids on the auction? someone's gotta foot the bill and it ain't gonna be Ted Rogers,,,, :-)

Disclaimer: I work for the competition
tj

Darn, for a while I actually thought Rogers gave a damn about innovation in Canada

Wirelessnorth.ca

June 5th, 2008Data pricing from Rogers actually gets worse

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