More on the iPhone Data Phones

So Rogers have ‘responded’ to the publics less than favourable attitude to the bad voice/data combination to the iPhone plans and have announced a short term deal to entice iPhone shoppers to commit to Rogers for their data plans.

Rogers are offering 6GB for $30 extra on top of your existing, in-market voice plan.

For mobile internet, daily browsing of facebook twitter, email and adhoc mp3 downloads I think 6GB is more than than enough, its not unlimited but its enough and ample breathing space for the heavy user.

However this plan will not include iPhone’s Visual Voicemail and any essentials like call waiting etc.

If you have had one of those nice unlimited voice plans you kept since 2001 or got given a deal on your voice plan for customer retention you will need to give it up and go for one thats on offer on their website …. this includes EPP and corporate plans too so be very careful before commiting yourselfs to this offer you could end up losing out.

Just read these points and consider them before you setup a tent outside a rogers store tonight

1. Be smart and shop smart
2. Don’t get sucked in by the iPhone fad
3. Don’t forget its just a cell phone
4. iPhone is a design marvel and not new technology!
5. There isn’t much that an iPhone does which other phones that have been out for years can’t do …. yet

Rogers at it again! Home Phone this time

So while we’re reading about how rogers plan to address the negative publicity from their 3G data plans and “gouging” Canadians. I just got a call from rogers saying that they have bought my landline telephone operator and, if I agree to take on rogers home phone, they will commit me to a 2 year contract!

These guys never stop, given that my choices are to get VOIP or use my mobile phone all they time, I had to argue that they can not commit me to such a term. After a while I got it contract free … who knows, they might iron out all the flaws in VOIP soon?

iPhone in Canada

Finally the iPhone will touchdown in Canada on July 11th. After scanning most speculation and chatter on the internet about the reason for the delay, I could only think this was a massive political stunt on behalf of Canada’s parasitic wireless telecoms network Rogers Communications. Rogers is Canada’s only GSM cell carrier.

GSM is a section of the wireless telecoms market where the cell phone contains a SIM card which can be removed and placed in another GSM phone. GSM is better technology for world travelers and people that like to change their phones without notifying the network. Today in Canada there are two CDMA carriers (Bell and Telus koodo = Telus by the way)

Parasitic, you might say I’m being harsh but I strongly feel that Canada is long overdue for healthy competition in the GSM market or some decent governing body to stop Canadians getting ripped off for any moderately up-to-date technology. In the UK there is a company called Ofcom (http://www.ofcom.org.uk) which watches over the telecoms network and one of the duties is to ensure a wide range of telecoms services is available to everyone in the UK. This is great as it looks at the big picture and governs the service as a whole … not just on their by own bottom line.