Rogers iPhone pricing plans revealed: 3years $3440

June 18th, 2008Rogers iPhone pricing plans revealed: 3years $3440

As being rapidly splashed across the internets, pricing for the Rogers iPhone have been revealed. There is some good news. It seems that the dictats of Steve have influenced global pricing on the iPhone as the Rogers plan closely matches that of AT&T.

The iPhone will cost you a data plan of $30 a month for “unlimited” (email, web) [ed - what about 3rd party apps?] or $45 a month for the enterprise email version. This is on top of a regular Rogers voice plan, system access fee etc. Basically this gibes with recent comments by Rogers President and COO Nadir Mohamed (and our own predictions) that the iPhone will cost the average customer about $90 a month. That’s not super cheap but it’s reasonable compared to the price of any blackberry plan.

As previously reported the iPhone will cost $199 up front (currency parity!) for the 8 GB version and $299 for the 16GB and extra color option(white). There’s also option for existing Rogers contract customers to upgrade to the iPhone. That’s the good news.

The bad news. Astonishingly, Rogers is only offering the phone on a 3-year contract. That’s 50% longer than AT&T (and anywhere else in the world) and twice as long as the 18 month contracts offered by O2 in the UK. For some reason, 3year contracts are legal in this country.

$199 + 36months x $90 = $3440 and that’s if you buy the cheap one. Don’t forget the GST/PST.

However, you’ll probably realize you are likely to spend at least that much on cellphone service in the next three years, no matter what your plan.

There’s no doubt the exclusive iPhone 3G is a coup for Rogers, and we can be sure they’ll be taking share from Bell and Telus not to mention locking-in a lot of Canadians just before more new competition arrives. Bell and Telus cannot offer the iPhone because their networks are not GSM. As far as we can tell the current iPhone 3G also does not support the AWS bands currently being auctioned in Canada. So the new entrants won’t get it either. That’s not to say though that future iPhone versions, and many other compelling handsets, won’t be hitting the AWS bands at least in the next 3 years.

There’s actually a whole bunch of really neat devices on a whole bunch of platforms already coming out in the next 3 to 9 months. But that’s a story for another post…

DWasher

I don't agree with the high data pricing or the contract obligation, but these prices are very comparable to a decent size business plan. I know several people that have phone bills well in excess of $2000 a year with their Blackberries and HTC smartphones. The are data phones for power users, hence the high rates. What did you expect?
PC

I was planning to get an Iphone for my husband, however, with all your comments I guess I should wait a bit longer. I really don't want to get stock on a 3yrs contract. If any one hears of any good deals in the future, let me know. Thanks,
Vic

I used to have high hope on the 2nd Gen. 3G iPhone and was pretty sure I will get one when it roll out for Canadian. But after review the plan for rogers and Fido, i will just hold for a bit. The plan is a joke. $90 for a month!? I rather pay $600 for the phone and use any plan as I like. The Canadian plan is way over price compare to the US one. Not to mention the 1st Gen iPhone plan which offer from AT&T. Iphone without a good (unlimited) data plan is rather useless. It is just like you get a new computer but you can't really go online. All you can do is word processing and minesweeper. I will just use my SonyEricsson for next little while. These Canadian iphone plan is just ripe off.
tj

I'm a bit disappointed,they're still sticking with their definition of "unlimited data" which is only email and web and the contract terms are ridiculous. Still this is a step in the right direction, I think I'll sit on the fence for a bit, see how Telus and Bell react.
Ian

Well, I won't be getting one, 3 years and 90 dollars is ridiculous. Maybe someday Rogers will have some real competition.
Sportyboard

If unlimited data is going to be $30/month, and you're saying monthly will be ~$90 a month, that means a $60 for a voice plan and system access fee?

I'm not sure if I'm the exception, but I can't see myself needing a voice plan that costs more than $30-35 a month :-\
Matt

I am still waiting to see if they roll out broader data plan packages.

$30 dollars a month seems reasonable enough to me, however this is for the 3 year contract with an iphone. I have a stock (never locked) HTC Kaiser, and I am get a really bad feeling that I wont be looking at any number close to $30 a month, that is if they even let me use my "unlocked" device, on anything but their long standing 30cents/kb pricing model.
Robert

Rogers and the other telcos are kings of the fine print. $30 bucks a month doesn't mean much at all. Do they actually think that people who can afford $90 per month phone bills are stupid enough to fall for this obvious marketing ploy? What an insult!

3 year contracts are sickening. Why do they exist? Is there a hidden cost that Rogers need to recover, so they force a 3 year contract down our throats? It can't be system-related charges, they charge BOTH activation and system access fee. It can't be to provide cheaper phones, because they DON'T provide a cheaper and shorter plan for those who use their own phones. The alternative to a plan is what, play as you go? No data, expensive minutes with a monthly expiry date. So, customers have no choice but to buy something under unsatisfactory terms. It doesn't take an economist to see that there is a lack of competition here. I really hope the auction brings a real competitor soon. How long does it take to put up a network? A year, 2 years?

This was very therapeutic.
midtoad

yep, you nailed it. Rogers is going to promote the hell out of this to try to convince as many people as possible to lock in for 3 years. THREE YEARS! Why, iPhone v.5 will be out by then, and you'll still be paying for today's model.

In three years, the wireless industry in this country will look drastically different than it does today, and rates may be far lower than today. But your Rogers plan will be exactly the same high rip-off price then as it today.

You can bet that Telus, Bell, and the new entrant will all react to Rogers' attempts to steal market share. Me, I plan to wait just a few months to see what that response will be. In the meanwhile, if I really need an iPhone-like experience, I can always just pull out my iPod Touch. Total monthly data plan cost? $0.00.
heri

hey any info if this would use Rogers' 3G network?
roland

OK! Not as bad as our most pessimistic fears ! my "conspiracy theory" :-) is that video is disabled because the 3G networks couldn't handle 300 Robert Scobles or 300 Roland Tanglaos streaming over Qik in the same cell in Vancouver ! Is there a bandwidth cap? It appears not. Hmmm so my blink reaction is: if Qik or Kyte or Flixwagon come out for the iPhone and Rogers allows them to be used for unlimited use or for some reasonable bandwidth cap (2GB would be reasonable to me!) then I am going to get rid of my EDGE grandfathered unlimited plan and switch to this! Because the only killer app that my Nokia has is Qik!
roland

And of course ShoZu is a Nokia killer app but I have no doubt ShoZu is coming to the iPhone!

Wirelessnorth.ca

June 18th, 2008Rogers iPhone pricing plans revealed: 3years $3440

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