Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,102
40,128


Canadian carrier Rogers this week announced that customers can receive six months of free access to Apple Music when signing up for select Infinite data plans, including its 20GB plan for $80 per month or 50GB plan for $125 per month.

apple-music-note.jpg

The offer is available to new and existing Apple Music subscribers on iOS or Android, and can be redeemed through the MyRogers app. After the six-month free period, customers will have Apple Music's standard $9.99 per month cost charged directly on their Rogers bill. The offer is not applicable to family or student subscriptions.

Rogers is the only Canadian carrier to now offer Apple Music as a perk, following in the footsteps of Verizon in the United States.

South African carrier MTN has also rolled out a six-months-free Apple Music offer.

Article Link: Rogers Introduces Six-Months-Free Apple Music Perk With Select Infinite Data Plans in Canada
 
Unless the wireless plan is only 6 months than this isn't really a perk as much as it is 1000 hours of AOL.

FWIW, the student plan is only $5 a month, so over the course of the year it would be the same price and you get Apple TV+. Pretty sure the UNiDAYS offer still works in Canada.
 
Wow, are those normal prices for Canada wireless plans? Seems exorbitantly high!
Yep, and they actually used to be much worse! There’s basically only 3 carriers with national coverage here (although they each own flanker brands) and they price fix.

I recently scored a 20 GB plan (includes unlimited nationwide talk and text) for $55/month and that is considered a stellar deal here.
 
How much does Rogers then get of that $9.99/month after?

Wow, are those normal prices for Canada wireless plans? Seems exorbitantly high!
High? As a Canadian that's actually pretty good and standard. We don't really have much in the way of competition here. The few big cell companies own all of the smaller cell companies and they don't compete at all. They all just agree to charge as much as they can basically. I've been using Rogers since 1992 and never switched just because there's no better deals ever for my cell needs.
 
As a Canadian ( now residing abroad) I can tell you that the cable TV, mobile phone and Internet charges are amongst the highest in the world. The government has an agency (CRTC) to monitor and regulate these few firms but they do bugger all in favour of the consumer. Rogers and Bell are both crooks and get away with scams that would put individuals in jail. Don't believe anything they advertise or offer. It is very sad and disturbing that a first world country of 35 million people have such limited choice in technology that is crucial to living in 2020. When I tell my friends in Canada that here in Northern Europe I have unlimited data for a decent price, they just shake their heads and lament the incompetent governments who have been in the back pockets of the Canadian telecom for years.
 
Yep, and they actually used to be much worse! There’s basically only 3 carriers with national coverage here (although they each own flanker brands) and they price fix.

I recently scored a 20 GB plan (includes unlimited nationwide talk and text) for $55/month and that is considered a stellar deal here.
And they think that is great but unlimited talk is old news. Data is what people need and use. It is still 1985 in Canada telco wise.
 
I forgot to mention one of the endearing marketing approaches that the big three telcos in Canada have used. It has been documented, proven and they have faced public outcry as a result. Their call centre employees, when realising they have a non-techy senior on the phone, have actually enticed the customer (victim) who does not own a omputer to agree to an Internet contract.

Many news stories were done a couple of years ago where telco call centre employees admitted in tears that they were forced to push and push products on people they knew had no need for them or could not even use (the folks with no computer). Many of these whistle blowers quit as they could not sleep at night knowing what they were doing to innocent folks.
 
Don't forget the $20-$100/month device tab charge on top of those prices. Without an EPP plan, it's near impossible to sign a new plan with a new phone for less than $100/month.
 
  • Like
Reactions: amartinez1660
As a Canadian ( now residing abroad) I can tell you that the cable TV, mobile phone and Internet charges are amongst the highest in the world. The government has an agency (CRTC) to monitor and regulate these few firms but they do bugger all in favour of the consumer. Rogers and Bell are both crooks and get away with scams that would put individuals in jail. Don't believe anything they advertise or offer. It is very sad and disturbing that a first world country of 35 million people have such limited choice in technology that is crucial to living in 2020. When I tell my friends in Canada that here in Northern Europe I have unlimited data for a decent price, they just shake their heads and lament the incompetent governments who have been in the back pockets of the Canadian telecom for years.

The CRTC does a decent amount of good. They outlawed unlocking fees, for starters. They also ensure there's a 14 day cancellation policy on all phone contracts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dj64Mk7
The CRTC does a decent amount of good. They outlawed unlocking fees, for starters. They also ensure there's a 14 day cancellation policy on all phone contracts.
Wow....very little in the big picture of what needs and should be done. They have been very ineffective. But if they think everyone is so easily pleased and placated as you they don't have to do anything else. They stopped 3 year contracts but then they just sat back while the telcos made 2 year contracts in their favour to make up for any losses.

No disrespect, but if you feel they are doing what consumers need then you are part of the problem, not the solution.
 
Wow, are those normal prices for Canada wireless plans? Seems exorbitantly high!

Yep, and the Triopoly of carriers will say it's because our population density is so low.

In reality almost all of Canada's population is in a very small number of urban centres.

Our population density per tower is probably WAAAAAY higher than in the US.
 
  • Like
Reactions: amartinez1660
The CRTC does a decent amount of good. They outlawed unlocking fees, for starters. They also ensure there's a 14 day cancellation policy on all phone contracts.
Phones should not be sold locked. Here there are no contracts, one can cancel and move anytime one wishes. If you have opted to pay for the phone over time (no interest is charged) you must continue to pay for the phone but you can use any provider sim card you want.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrTemple
Wow, are those normal prices for Canada wireless plans? Seems exorbitantly high!

Canadian prices are horrendous. What makes it an ok deal I guess is the fact that the 20 or 50GB of initial full speed bandwidth (so it's hardly infinite Rogers!!) is sharable so overall those that it's shared with can optimise their usage into the one account (assuming they all fit).

That said, my "all in" bundle that costs only 25% more than the 50GB contract and I get 2 mobile lines (one is a true unlimited), 600Mbps FIOS and TV (Netflix UHD and Disney+ included!). So yeah… pricing in Canada sucks royally!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Expos of 1969
Crazy prices, here in Mexico City I have an unlimited plan (I even have unlimited calls & texts to US & Canada), so my line equals the Canadian national unlimited calls & text part, for, wait for it, $9 usd a month. Yes, it only includes 2GB of 4G+/4.5G data, but I can add up to 40GB extra 4G+ data in $5-$10 usd increments for the billing period. As I work from home, I never go over my included data. I have been consistently paying $9/month for the past 6 months...
 
Crazy prices, here in Mexico City I have an unlimited plan (I even have unlimited calls & texts to US & Canada), so my line equals the Canadian national unlimited calls & text part, for, wait for it, $9 usd a month. Yes, it only includes 2GB of 4G+/4.5G data, but I can add up to 40GB extra 4G+ data in $5-$10 usd increments for the billing period. As I work from home, I never go over my included data. I have been consistently paying $9/month for the past 6 months...
Despite NAFTA, Canada is choosing to still screw its own population with regards to telco charges.
 
And they think that is great but unlimited talk is old news. Data is what people need and use. It is still 1985 in Canada telco wise.
Pretty much all plans include unlimited talk now, but it wasn’t so long ago that wasn’t the case and we were still paying long distance charges for calls outside our own city. Plans with 20 GB were unheard of here a few years ago.

A promo during the holidays a few years ago (2017 I think?) which included 10 GB of data for $60 a month led to hours wait times for the various mobile call centers and lineups at stores because it was a significantly better deal than anything available at the time.

Canada is still known to have some of the most expensive mobile plans in the world, but it used to be much worse.
 
Last edited:
  • Wow
Reactions: Dj64Mk7
Crazy prices, here in Mexico City I have an unlimited plan (I even have unlimited calls & texts to US & Canada), so my line equals the Canadian national unlimited calls & text part, for, wait for it, $9 usd a month. Yes, it only includes 2GB of 4G+/4.5G data, but I can add up to 40GB extra 4G+ data in $5-$10 usd increments for the billing period. As I work from home, I never go over my included data. I have been consistently paying $9/month for the past 6 months...

What's the difference between 4G+ and 4.5G?
 
Phones should not be sold locked. Here there are no contracts, one can cancel and move anytime one wishes. If you have opted to pay for the phone over time (no interest is charged) you must continue to pay for the phone but you can use any provider sim card you want.
I don't have a contract either. The only contracts that exist in the Canadian market anymore are for cell phone upgrades, but those are basically just an interest free loan split over a 24 month term. If you switch to a different carrier and still owe of your phone you have to pay off the balance on your loan (contract), but you can keep the phone (cell phone locking is no longer legal here) and sign up at a different carrier without a contract.

Switching and pitting the carriers against each other is the best way to get a better deal here, that's how I ended up paying $20 less per month than is currently advertised for the 20 GB plan.
 
I don't have a contract either. The only contracts that exist in the Canadian market anymore are for cell phone upgrades, but those are basically just an interest free loan split over a 24 month term. If you switch to a different carrier and still owe of your phone you have to pay off the balance on your loan (contract), but you can keep the phone (cell phone locking is no longer legal here) and sign up at a different carrier without a contract.

Switching and pitting the carriers against each other is the best way to get a better deal here, that's how I ended up paying $20 less per month than is currently advertised for the 20 GB plan.
Good to hear that a few things have changed for the better.
 
I should note that Canada does have fast and reliable LTE coverage (with 5G currently rolling out in major urban centers) coast to coast - for such a large country that does at least explain part of the higher cost.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.