Rogers Wireless on Tethering..

[Arkanok]

Ok so I was just browsing the Rogers site to see if they had any more info regarding the iPhone 3Gs and 3.0 stuff, and they have a FAQ up which seems to have been updated very recently to include some more info about MMS and Tethering.

So I read the FAQ and noticed something a little confusing in the tethering section, here's what it said:

"Can I tether on my iPhone?
To use tethering or wireless modem functionality you require the new iPhone 3G S, or an iPhone 3G that has been upgraded with the new iPhone OS 3.0 software. Until December 31, 2009, if you have subscribed to a data plan which includes at least 1GB of data you may use tethering as part of the volume of data included in your plan at no additional charge. Tethering cannot be used with data plans of less then 1GB."


The part I'm curious about is where it says "Until December 31, 2009, if you have subscribed to a data plan which includes at least 1GB of data you may use tethering as part of the volume of data included in your plan at no additional charge." From what I can tell, it's only gonna be included in our data plans till Dec 31, 2009? After that are we gonna have to pay even more?

And also, does anybody know if the same holds true for Fido? Their site doesn't have anything about tethering OR MMS, and I'm just curious as to whether or not it's supported with them.

 

[cere]

Ok so I was just browsing the Rogers site to see if they had any more info regarding the iPhone 3Gs and 3.0 stuff, and they have a FAQ up which seems to have been updated very recently to include some more info about MMS and Tethering.

So I read the FAQ and noticed something a little confusing in the tethering section, here's what it said:

"Can I tether on my iPhone?
To use tethering or wireless modem functionality you require the new iPhone 3G S, or an iPhone 3G that has been upgraded with the new iPhone OS 3.0 software. Until December 31, 2009, if you have subscribed to a data plan which includes at least 1GB of data you may use tethering as part of the volume of data included in your plan at no additional charge. Tethering cannot be used with data plans of less then 1GB."


The part I'm curious about is where it says "Until December 31, 2009, if you have subscribed to a data plan which includes at least 1GB of data you may use tethering as part of the volume of data included in your plan at no additional charge." From what I can tell, it's only gonna be included in our data plans till Dec 31, 2009? After that are we gonna have to pay even more?

And also, does anybody know if the same holds true for Fido? Their site doesn't have anything about tethering OR MMS, and I'm just curious as to whether or not it's supported with them.

What they mean, is that if you sign up for a data plan, at anytime between last week and Dec 31, 2009, you must sign up for one that is at least 1 gig to be allowed to tether. Before last week, if you had any full data plan (not the WAP/mobile browsing plans) of any size, then tethering was included. They simply have now restricted it and any plans between now and dec 31 must be 1gig or more to tether. After Dec 31, they will change this requirement or leave it alone.

And it is the same with Fido.

 

[Arkanok]

What they mean, is that if you sign up for a data plan, at anytime between last week and Dec 31, 2009, you must sign up for one that is at least 1 gig to be allowed to tether. Before last week, if you had any full data plan (not the WAP/mobile browsing plans) of any size, then tethering was included. They simply have now restricted it and any plans between now and dec 31 must be 1gig or more to tether. After Dec 31, they will change this requirement or leave it alone.

And it is the same with Fido.

Ok awesome, thanks for clearing that up. But as far as Fido goes, I just wasn't sure if they'd be doing it too since during the WWDC keynote, they had a list of all the carriers supporting tethering and MMS; Rogers was on both lists but Fido wasn't, although I know they're both really the same company now, I just wasn't sure if Rogers wanted it all for themselves though.

 

[DeusInvictus7]

The part I'm curious about is where it says "Until December 31, 2009, if you have subscribed to a data plan which includes at least 1GB of data you may use tethering as part of the volume of data included in your plan at no additional charge." From what I can tell, it's only gonna be included in our data plans till Dec 31, 2009? After that are we gonna have to pay even more?

After the end of the year, they are going to look at how much people are actually using the tethering, and then decide whether they are going to charge for a plan for it or not. Hopefully not, but knowing Rogers, they'll charge for it if they can.

And also, does anybody know if the same holds true for Fido? Their site doesn't have anything about tethering OR MMS, and I'm just curious as to whether or not it's supported with them.

Fido will be the same I'm pretty sure. At least for the iPhone, the plans and stuff have been pretty identical for both carriers.

 

[Arkanok]

After the end of the year, they are going to look at how much people are actually using the tethering, and then decide whether they are going to charge for a plan for it or not. Hopefully not, but knowing Rogers, they'll charge for it if they can.

Damn, I hope that's not the case. I mean, if they charged $5 extra to use the tethering in your data plan, fine. But if they'd wanna charge an extra like, I dunno, $15 they're just ripping people off.

 

[DeusInvictus7]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I really hope they don't charge extra next year.

Are you lining up early on Friday? I'm just gonna have my manager hold a white 32GB for me so that I can just come in whenever I want to get it all set up lol.

 

[Arkanok]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I really hope they don't charge extra next year.

Are you lining up early on Friday? I'm just gonna have my manager hold a white 32GB for me so that I can just come in whenever I want to get it all set up lol.

Nah, sadly I'm just gonna stick with my 3G and get the next iPhone next year. I don't wanna get into the habit of buying a new phone every year haha, too expensive.

 

[DeusInvictus7]

Nah, sadly I'm just gonna stick with my 3G and get the next iPhone next year. I don't wanna get into the habit of buying a new phone every year haha, too expensive.

Haha, understandable. I moved to Canada a year ago on the 24th, so I've been waiting to get an iPhone long enough. I've been using my 1st gen iPhone as an iPod this whole time haha. The 3GS is a good enough upgrade for me to get, and then I'll make a decision next year if the new iPhone is really worth it or not.

Back on topic: I find it really funny that Rogers out of all carriers around the world is the one offering free tethering to those with more than 1GB of data. Doesn't seem very Rogers like. 😀

 

[samab]

The part I'm curious about is where it says "Until December 31, 2009, if you have subscribed to a data plan which includes at least 1GB of data you may use tethering as part of the volume of data included in your plan at no additional charge." From what I can tell, it's only gonna be included in our data plans till Dec 31, 2009? After that are we gonna have to pay even more?

The way I read it --- is same as you. You are getting free tethering on any plan over 1 GB from now to Dec 31, 2009. After that, they are going to charge you (or they reserve the right to charge you).

Does it mean that they will definitely end it on Dec 31, 2009? No.
Does it mean that they are just testing tethering to see if it would cripple their network? No.

This is a SALES promotion --- if SALES are BAD , they will EXTEND it. Rogers extended the 6 GB monthly allowance iphone special a few times because sales were bad.

 

[samab]

Back on topic: I find it really funny that Rogers out of all carriers around the world is the one offering free tethering to those with more than 1GB of data. Doesn't seem very Rogers like. 😀

It's also the only iphone carrier to have 3 year contracts and comparatively (with the US) expensive ETF's.

 

[Arkanok]

Haha, understandable. I moved to Canada a year ago on the 24th, so I've been waiting to get an iPhone long enough. I've been using my 1st gen iPhone as an iPod this whole time haha. The 3GS is a good enough upgrade for me to get, and then I'll make a decision next year if the new iPhone is really worth it or not.

Back on topic: I find it really funny that Rogers out of all carriers around the world is the one offering free tethering to those with more than 1GB of data. Doesn't seem very Rogers like. 😀

I know exactly what you mean! They're the one carrier that I would have expected a "You wanna teather? $50 a month extra!" type of response. Good either way though.

 

[DeusInvictus7]

It's also the only iphone carrier to have 3 year contracts and comparatively (with the US) expensive ETF's.

Yeah that's true. But even if the iPhone was on say, Telus or Bell (which obviously won't happen, at least for a while), they would still have 3-year contracts, so either way we are screwed into a contract.

I know exactly what you mean! They're the one carrier that I would have expected a "You wanna teather? $50 a month extra!" type of response. Good either way though.

Haha, yeah exactly. At least we get 6 months of tethering, even though I doubt that I would ever use it, unless for some weird reason my school doesn't have wifi everywhere.

 

[cere]

I suppose it could be read to mean that the tethering is only good until Dec 31 or that if you sign up until dec 31, tethering will be a part of the plan. Fido's ToS uses slightly different wording:

Tethering is the use of your phone as a wireless modem to connect to the Internet from your computer. For a limited time, if you subscribe to a dataAdd-On which includes at least 1GB of data transmission between June 8, 2009 and December 31, 2009, and if you have a compatible device, you may use tethering as part of the volume of data included in your plan at no additional charge. Tethering cannot be used with data Add-Ons of less than 1GB.

Which seems to be a little clearer in that the date range given is the signup deadline (for now) and not when tethering would expire for those that have it.

Certainly their old ToS was much less ambiguous:

The Data options, the Flexible rate option and International Data options are applicable to the following data usage:
- Accessing the Internet using the built in browser of any Fido phone, Fido device or phones not certified by Fido
- Using your phone as a wireless modem to access the Internet via a laptop (Tethering).

This was their ToS until the WWDC last week. Certainly, those that got the promo last year fell under this ToS, though I am sure Rogers has clauses that they can change their terms without notice.

Hofo is full of Fido and Rogers reps that claim the new ToS means you have until Dec 31 to sign up and not that it means if you sign up now it might expire on Dec 31.