They aren’t as good as were predicted but not too bad. We missed out on the unlimited data, somehow Rogers had to screw us somehow. Very normal for Canadian telco’s.
Here is a snippet, for more information please go to Engadget.
Low end: $60 – 150 minutes – 400MB of data
Middle 1: $75 – 300 minutes – 750MB of data
Middle 2: $100 – 600 minutes – 1GB of data
High end: $115 – 800 minutes – 2GB of data
All plans include unlimited incoming text messages and the visual voicemail. Cool.
Now here is my opinion, the plans could be worse. Browsing to the point where you actually download 2GB of data is crazy. I have a computer at home, and I work on a laptop so if it was my only computer, I may wince at the 2GB. But that is still a lot of data. I will not be downloading movies or videos from the cell network because that would just be too slow anyway, even with 3G. I already have a Hotspot account through Telus at $24.95 a month which gives me unlimited access at Hotspot locations including airports, Starbuck’s, Second Cup’s etc. So if I’m in one of those locales (which Starbucks aren’t hard to come by) I would just use the WiFi anyway. Hopefully Starbucks will start offering free WiFi like they do in the states anyway.
For $115, 800 minutes of talk plus unlimited evenings and weekends is great in my opinion. I have 350 minutes a month with 10MB for my has-been Blackberry and I pay $90 a month. So I think this new plan is very appealing considering I normally go over my 350 minutes and end up paying more than $90 anyway! Last month I paid $122 for my Wireless before tax. And 10MB is nothing compared to 2GB. So they have had to loosen the purse strings a little bit.
One thing to note though, is that if you want Caller ID you have to add a value pack which is $15 or $20 depending on the one you choose which includes more sent text messages, forwarding, Caller Ring Trax (who knows what the hell this is) and Who Called. The $20 value pack adds in Early Evening starting at 6:00pm.
Here is a link to the Rogers page where you can see all the details.
So the bottom line, I’ll still be in line on July 11th. It may not be unlimited, but it will definitely serve my needs!
[UPDATED] Okay, after reading some blogs, people are making some sense and putting it into perspective for me. When compared to other rate plans that other countries are offering, the lack of unlimited data, and the low amount of minutes offered is not a good deal. I guess because I’m used to the high prices I’m a little desensitized, but us Canadians are getting ripped off. I’m going to continue to read more and see what happens over the next couple of weeks.
