Canadians. What would you do if Rogers disabled WIFI from the Canadian iPhone?

[loafer]

Some people might see this as ridiculous, but with the lack of competition in the Canadian cell phone market, cell phone companies are not new to screwing the consumer. What would you do if rogers make apple disable wifi in the canadian iPhone?

surely someone would come out with a hack to enable it, but what if the hardware wasnt included? It would obviously force one to browse the internet on a data plan, which would bring in more revenue to rogers.

I guess canadians wouldn't stop heading south to buy iphones to unlock.

 

[Echinda]

Rogers is going to have a tough time with the iPhone, but not because of WiFi. I don't see Apple letting Rogers get away without offering unlimited data plans. And if Rogers has to offer unlimited data plans, then they will want you to be able to access WiFi because whenever you do, you reduce the load on their infrastructure. Since you're already paying a flat fee, any time you DON'T use their service is a plus for them.

The problem Rogers is going to have is offering unlimited data at all. The infrastructure cost per customer for them will be much higher than AT&T, given the area they have to cover and the relatively low population density. Which is probably why the leaked price for the Canadian iPhone looks like it might be C$800 (US$825). That extra $400 over the US price would go a long way toward compensating Rogers for their infrastructure costs.

 

[haoqfu]

I will shoot its CEO in his head

 

[Tsuius]

Everyone is assuming that the iPhone is coming to Canada when there isn’t any indication that it is. This is only emphasized further with the European launch before Canada.

I would say that Apple will not sell the iPhone in Canada with current Rogers data rates. Rogers will not pay Apple any monthly fees simply because there is no competition and they have no reason to agree to any terms from Apple. And then there is this silly claim from comwave about the iPhone name.

Too many obstacles for a handful of Canadian users compared to the huge US and European markets?

 

[monke]

Buy one, unlocked from the States, and get the same plan.

Honestly, the iPhone in Canada is going to be a joke. I'll place a bet that the cheapest plan will be $100 a month. Unless they completely strip it down to minutes.

 

[SpaceJello]

The problem Rogers is going to have is offering unlimited data at all. The infrastructure cost per customer for them will be much higher than AT&T, given the area they have to cover and the relatively low population density. Which is probably why the leaked price for the Canadian iPhone looks like it might be C$800 (US$825). That extra $400 over the US price would go a long way toward compensating Rogers for their infrastructure costs.

Where is the leaked price coming from? There is no way it's going to cost that much... who would by an iPhone at 800$??

 

[MacinDoc]

Where is the leaked price coming from? There is no way it's going to cost that much... who would by an iPhone at 800$??

There was a rumor posted on MR that Holt Renfrew would be selling them for $800. I believe the rumor originated within Holt Renfrew.

Back to the question posed by the OP, I would dump Rogers, all 3 wireless lines I have with them, my pager, and my Rogers Home Phone.

And encourage everyone else I know to do the same.

With respect to Canada's market size, it is still considerable to Apple. I estimate that Canadian iPhone sales would exceed 20% of U.S. sales, especially if a half reasonable data plan was introduced.

And this business about large geographic areas/low population density is nonsense propagated by Canadian wireless providers. If you look at a map of Canada, you will find huge areas that are not covered by Rogers. I suspect there is little difference in population density between areas covered by Rogers in Canada and areas covered by AT&T in the U.S.

 

[steve31]

I finally got fed-up with all the B.S and went out and bought 2 unlocked iPhones and I could not be happier!!!!!

 

[chris1h1]

I've recently moved to Canada from the UK, and was surprised to discover how backward and over-priced the mobile phone networks are over here. I expected to be able to just get a free pay-as-you-go SIM card for my existing phone and carry on paying around £5 ($10) a month to use it (I wasn't a heavy user, and mainly sent texts rather than make calls). However, as far as I'm aware only Rogers actually uses SIM cards, and they wanted me to pay for the SIM, pay to have it activated, offer me calltime that expires after a certain time, and pay to receive incoming calls. Yes, pay for incoming calls. They did however graciously offer me a quota of free inbound text messages.

I'm always surprised to see so many people using mobile phones here, with them costing so much for so little - I opted for a landline and an answering machine instead, which to me seems a much better option given the patchy mobile coverage yet abundance of coin-operated payphones with flat rates per call (which is much better than in the UK).

If you want things to change, vote with your feet and just don't use Rogers. Same with the banks - why do you let them charge you a monthly fee for allowing them to invest your money for their own profit - surely they should be paying you interest?

Without 3G, browsing the internet on the iPhone will be a pain, and you'll most likely only get EDGE coverage in major cities anyway, where (one would hope) there'll be WiFi hotspots aplenty. Buy an iPod touch instead and use all the money you save on the device itself and the costly long-term contract to buy a phone that's just a phone, or to carry some loose change in your pocket for the payphones.

(Sorry, rant over - the people are really friendly and I actually rather like it here ).