andPOP » rogers

Telus and Bell Rumoured to Switch to GSM

andPOP Staff — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:23:55 +0000

An iPhone free from the exorbitant clutches of Rogers? That could be a reality if reports of a GSM migration by Telus and Bell are true.

Telus and Bell, Canada’s second and third largest wireless service providers, currently run on CDMA technology, a North American protocol that function without SIM cards. CDMA use is vastly overshadowed by GSM technology, which is used by Rogers and is the worldwide standard.

GSM users enjoy the freedom to move from handset to handset for free without losing their contact information, while CDMA customers are forced to pay a handset swap fee and manually input their contacts. As the sole Canadian GSM provider, Rogers has dominated the market. The world’s most sought-after handset, Apple’s iPhone, only works with GSM technology, leaving CDMA customers out in the cold.

But Telus and Bell are investigating a move to GSM, a move rumoured to cost upwards of $400 million. The transition is sure to shake up the monopolistic Canadian market, one that is defined by extremely expensive GSM data fees.

Rogers currently does not offer an unlimited data plan, the closest being a promotional $30 for 6GBs of data. Telus and Bell, on the other hand, offer much more affordable data plans. Last Holiday season, Telus launched an unlimited data plan for only $15. Bell announced a similar $7 unlimited package. If the transition to GSM comes into fruition, you can bet on thousands of iPhone customers flocking to Telus and Bell.

Rogers Breaks Activation Record With iPhone Launch

andPOP Staff — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:49:41 +0000

Rogers Wireless reported the best sales weekend in it’s history with the launch of the much-hyped Apple iPhone. The Canadian telecom giant confirmed that tens of thousands of iPhones sold out in many of the launch centres across Canada.

The news is sure to bring a sigh of relief to Rogers CEO Ted Rogers, who faced a wave of criticism for the iPhone’s expensive monthly rates. Almost 60,000 people signed a petition against Rogers, vowing to take their business elsewhere unless changes were made. Apple was rumoured to have cut back on iPhone shipments as a form of punishment for the abnormally high rate plans.The backlash, it appears, did little to stop the surge of sales.

The second shipment of iPhones is set to arrive at Rogers retail centres tomorrow.

Rogers Adjusts iPhone Plans, Allows Data to be Added to Any Voice Package

andPOP Staff — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:52:18 +0000

Call me crazy, but I’ve waited over a year for the iPhone to come to Canada, and when it was finally announced that Rogers would carry it, my face lit up. However, a couple weeks later that smile disappeared as Rogers announced its iPhone plans and well, I wasn’t satisfied at all. I felt as if Rogers had taken such a great opportunity to take customers from Bell and Telus and tried to abuse its position as the only GSM provider in Canada, by not only giving us such low bandwidth allotments, but by giving us even less daytime minutes.

But not all was lost. A petition over at www.ruinediphone.com, which had more than 31,000 signatures at the time this article was written, may have just swayed Rogers to shift its position on the iPhone packages. A recent trip over to the Rogers Wireless iPhone plans reveals some new verbage and additional features now included with each plan.

The first thing you’ll notice is you now get 3 months unlimited calling…ok we’ll take that (but we’re still locked in for 3 years with 150 minutes on the base package). The second thing you’ll notice is the additional cost per minutes should you exceed the ones included (standard stuff). But the newest and most important change is that you can now add data packages to your EXISTING voice plan.

“While the iPhone 3G Voice and Data Packages allow you to use this device to its fullest and offer savings over separate voice and data plans, they are not the only options available to you. Other pricing options are available. For example, you may choose to combine one of our new data plans ranging from $30 per month (for 300MB) to $100 per month (for 6GB) with a voice plan. They are available by calling 1 888 ROGERS1 or by visiting your nearest Rogers retail location.”

If this was planned from the beginning, then strike one to Rogers for bad execution as every news outlet has picked up the story of how Canadians are getting ripped off on Voice and Data packages. But either way, we’re glad to see this as there was no way I was going to give up my unlimited incoming package for an iPhone.

What Americans Pay to Use The iPhone 3G

andPOP Staff — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:14:10 +0000

For those Canadians baffled by the plans Fido and Rogers are offering for the iPhone 3G, I thought I’d offer some perspective by posting what AT&T is charging Americans for purchasing and using the iPhone 3G:

$69.99 for 450 voice minutes, unlimited data and 5000 evening and weekend minutes
$89.99 for 900 voice minutes, unlimited data and unlimited evening and weekend minutes
$109.99 for 1350 voice minutes, unlimited data and unlimited evening and weekend minutes
$129 for unlimited voice, data and evenings and weekends.
Unlimited text can be added for $20/month, $15 for 1500 messages or $5 for 200.

People who have purchased an iPhone before the 3G release will be able to upgrade for $199 (8GB) or $299 (16GB). The iPhone 3G (without the upgrade) will cost AT&T customers $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both phones require a new two-year service agreement with one of the plans mentioned above. AT&T have said that a no-commitment version of the phone will be released, but not until after the initial launch. The no-commitment phones will cost $599 and $699, according to an article that appeared on www.engadget.com.

While the American version of the plans for the iPhone look better than the Canadian ones, consumers will still have to fork over a ton of cash for this techno-gadget. Even on the cheapest plan, users will be paying close to $850 a year to use their phone, and that’s not even including text messaging. That being said, AT&T customers on the ‘cheap plan’ get a lot more than Rogers customers on the comparable plan, which costs only $10 less a month. The cheapest Roger’s plan, at $60/month, offers 150 anytime minutes, 75 outgoing SMS, and 400 MB data, free evenings after 9pm.

Rogers Announces iPhone 3G Phone Plans, Canadians Baffled

andPOP Staff — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:37:27 +0000

Rogers announced this past week the long awaited voice + data plans that would be sold alongside the 3G iPhone on July 11th and Canadians are not going to like what they see.

The plans are as follows:

- $60/month – 150 anytime minutes, 75 outgoing SMS, and 400 MB data, free evenings after 9pm
- $75/months – 300 anytime minutes, 100 outgoing SMS, and 750 MB data, free evenings after 9pm
- $100/month – 600 anytime minutes, 200 outgoing SMS, and 1 GB data, free evenings after 9pm
- $115/month – 800 anytime minutes, 300 outgoing SMS, and 2 GB data, free evenings after 9pm

Rogers has also released 2 value packs for an additional $15 or $20 per month that include features such as caller ID, free evenings after 6pm and 2500 SMS. In addition, iPhone users will get free access to all Fido and Rogers hot spots around the country.

Sadly, Rogers does not offer an unlimited plan and it is unknown at this time if current subscribers can simply keep their current voice plan and just add an iPhone data plan. While Canadian’s have never been treated properly when it comes to voice or data plans, we don’t expect them to be any happier after seeing these iPhone plans. A typical bill with the value pack add-on is going to run you close to $100 month with taxes and the good ole system access fee.

It appears that Rogers just doesn’t understand what the general public wants and is limiting mobile growth in Canada. iPhone plans on the Fido brand are identical.

An iPhone will require a 3 year contract and $199 (8GB) and $299 (16gb) for the phone.

Rogers, Universal, HMV Team Up To Give Canadian Music Artists Recording Prize

andPOP Staff — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:00:22 +0000

As a welcome to Canadian Music Week, Redpipe (Rogers Wireless’ indie music company), Universal Music/Fontana North and HMV have teamed up to offer Canadian artists a chance to win a $25,000 recording prize.

Unsigned Canadian artists who join Redpipe.ca will have the opportunity to gain exposure to thousands of music fans and be considered for the $25,000 recording prize. Fans will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite artists on redpipe.ca or via text message. Once voting is completed, the winner will be chosen by the pre-selected panel from among the top ten voted artists.

“The new Redpipe $25,000 Recording Prize solidifies our commitment to emerging artists in Canada.” said John Boynton, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Wireless.

The $25,000 prize includes:

· $5,000 cheque paid directly to the winning artist/band.
· $20,000 fund for recording and releasing the winning artist/band’s release.
· Fontana North Distribution will provide A&R, marketing and promotional support.
· Physical distribution through Fontana, with digital via Universal Music Canada.
· HMV will rack the winners CD in stores across Canada!

Band sign up ends April 14 and fan voting begins the next day.

New BlackBerry 8800 released on Rogers’ Network; Learns from The Pearl

Daniel Levine — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 14:05:42 +0000

On February 12, Rogers Communications and RIM announced the BlackBerry 8800, the newest addition to Rogers’ lineup of BlackBerry devices.

Operating on Rogers’ high-speed EDGE network, the quad-band BlackBerry 8800 is the thinnest BlackBerry handset yet. It incorporates built-in GPS (Global Positioning System), a full QWERTY keyboard, RIM’s new trackball navigation system for fast and intuitive navigation (i.e The Pearl), a media player, and a microSD expandable memory slot for storage of music and videos. The BlackBerry 8800 offers features including support for phone, email, text and instant messaging, web browser, organizer, multimedia, corporate data applications and more.

The BlackBerry 8800 features built-in GPS and supports location-based services applications. It includes BlackBerry Maps, which provides on-screen driving directions with the ability to track the route via the GPS – and integrates with other BlackBerry applications, so users can generate a map from an address in their BlackBerry Address Book and send maps via email from their BlackBerry 8800. Rogers’ customers can also receive turn-by-turn voice and on-screen driving directions on the BlackBerry 8800 with TeleNav GPS Navigator(TM. TeleNav GPS Navigator includes turn-by-turn voice and onscreen driving directions with 3D full-color moving maps.

The BlackBerry 8800 will be available in Canada exclusively at Rogers Wireless and is expected to be available in retail and business channels in March.

For more information on the device you can visit www.rogers.com and www.blackberry8800.com