Rogers offers nearly unlimited iPhone data plan

Rogers Communications, Canada's dominant wireless carrier, has responded to the outcry over its iPhone rate plans with a new option for nearly unlimited data.

The company announced a $30-a-month data plan for the iPhone 3G that subscribers can add to their voice plans. With it, they can consume up to 6 gigabytes of data a month.

Before Wednesday, Rogers drew the ire of many a Canadian with its plan to offer a maximum 2GB voice-data plan at $115 a month. Lots of other carriers are offering unlimited data plans for the iPhone, which generates much more Web traffic on sites like Google than other smartphones.

The new plan doesn't go that far, obviously, but the limit will be extremely difficult for most people to hit. Rogers said 6GBs of data usage a month would enable you to watch 104 hours of YouTube videos every month, or send and receive more than 150,000 e-mails on your iPhone 3G.

Why Rogers still needs to insist on an upper limit for data usage is beyond me, but at least the company is offering an option that will allow most users to avoid overage charges. Still, it's only a limited-time offer: You have to activate an iPhone 3G by the end of August to qualify for the special plan. And you still have to sign a three-year contract.

[cfj2222]

That's crap. You can get over double the voice and unlimited data in the U.S. for a little more than half the money Rogers is asking for! Those poor, poor Canadians... Ripped off like that...

[Vegaman_Dan]

I'm rather surprised that Rogers caved like this so soon. If they are willing to flip flop so readily, it doesn't make me confident they wouldn't choose to change the terms of the plan later without warning. CSP's are fond of shifting plans by sending you a notice in the mail that by continuing to use the phone that you agree to the new terms... or you can pay the termination fee right then and there.

[Jonathan_Jeon]

I have to disagree with you, Mr. Tom Krazit. Though 6 GB sounds like a lot, my 11 year old nephew in Korea uses on average of 10GB per month with his cell phone. Most of things he does is voice/MMS messagings with his friends and educational movie downloads for his school projects. It's the market and content availability enviornment that creates the usage of the bandwidth. Believe me, I can fill up 6GB with less than 1000 emails. I'm a financial analyst at a local investment firm and I use on average about 8~10GB per month for my email with various MS-office attachments in the office. (Usually average powerpoint for sales presentation size is about 500mb...Data plan here in Canda is very expensive in comparison to any other country). So 6GB wouldn't do a justice...

[epross]

What I'd like to know is that if you are at work, home, or elsewhere where there is a WiFi hotspot, will you be able to use your iPhone or has Rogers somehow locked it so you are forced to use only their 3G network and their hotspots? I can live without any data plan from Rogers if I can make use of the various free hotspots around the country. I realize not all people will be like me, but I only anticipate casual usage and would 'force' myself to not use the expensive bandwidth on the 3G network when I have other cheaper bandwidth options available to me at home or work. Still, all of these plans seem very expensive to me compared to what my sister in the USA pays for cell coverage (and all the free calls she gets etc.)

[iamfucked]

What a joke Rogers is!!! Still 3 year contract and must purchase before Aug 31 promotions. Yeah so I have to break out of my contract and pay an early cancellation fee so I can get 6GB for $30.00 by Aug 31. This is the biggest scam of all - i hope Rogers sales go down big time. Also, I still do not understand why anyone would purchase a phone with apple DRM crap on it. Movies must be encoded to view on the phone, will not be able to unlock phone and finally battery life is going to Drain Big TIME using GPS or WiFI. Yes you heard it first be prepared for all kinds of complaints.Battery replacement is going to be fun too.

[mfurdyk]

Rogers' plans include free use of their Wifi hotspots AND of course you can use any other wifi hotspots in the world. (to epross)

[grundy1963]

What about us poor saps in the Emerald Isle. In Ireland O2 will charge me ?45 roughly $70 and my cap is 1GB per month. I'm limited to 100 text messages and 175 minutes of calls. Think I'll head to Canada