DigitalTerry’s Weblog

Rogers has announced its Apple iPhone plans.

Based on the plan, most users will be paying $100 per month for the basic plan that offers 150 minutes weekday minutes and 400MB of data per month.  That includes a basic package of Call ID and voice mail.  The Unlimited Evenings plan does not start until 9pm with that plan but you can upgrade and pay more to get it to start at 7pm but that will push you over the $100 mark.

I think the scariest part of the whole thing is that you don’t really know what you typical usage will be when you are downloading web pages, sending emails and using GPS etc.  I would be afraid to buy the plan and to find out that I really need the package that is 2 levels higher in order to meet my needs.  The whole point of this should be that you should be able to actually use the phone when you are out.

From my quick examination, it sounds like anyone who “regularly” (many times a day) is checking their personal email on the phone, they are not going to be able to survive with the 400MB plan.  But I could be completely wrong.  I have no idea.  I have no way to know because my current phone gives me the Rogers special browser and really restricts what I can do.

But do I want to gamble that my needs will fit in with the basic plan?  I wouldn’t know until I got my first “full month” bill which might not be for 6 - 8 weeks and by then I’d already be in my second month.  If my usage was much higher, I’d either have to raise my plan (can I afford it???) or cut my usage.  To me, if I have to cut my usage then I am not ready for the phone.  But how would I know if I am?   I don’t want to wager 3 years of $100 payments to find out.

I guess I’ll have to wait and see how other people find the phone and data rates and see if I can gauge how someone like me finds the phone services and costs.

So Rogers is bringing the iPhone 3G to Canada on July 11.  That much we know.  What we don’t know is how much it is going to cost.

An internal memo was leaked, allegedly, that claims to provide the details.

The memo claims that you’ll get unlimited Internet for $30 a month.  To me, that is smokin’ hot!  I’m already in line at the store, in my head.

But then you start to see people squelching that rumor and claiming that it is more likely to be $30 for 300MB of data.

Whoa.  Hold on now.  If that is the case, that’s a real potential problem.  You get yourself all signed up and ready to stick within the 300MB limit.  But can you?  If you use the phone daily to check email (probably several times a day) you’ll be downloading information.  If you then browse web pages when you are away from your home Wi-Fi network, you’ll be sucking up bandwidth.  For me, I think I’d probably use up a lot just from the GPS / Google Maps access.

I can’t imagine being a happy camper if I signed on for 3 years and then found that I was charged $150 extra in my first month.  I’d be afraid to use it after that for fear I’d be paying mega bucks.

As far as I know, there is no way to track your usage with these devices.  That means you’ll only find out about your usage after about 6 - 10 weeks of using it.  And of course the billing cycle is such that you are already well into the next month before you get it so you might already be in trouble in your second month.

Do you have a data tolerance level that you would accept?  Is “unlimited” the only thing that really works?  Would you pay $50 for unlimited instead of $30 for 300MB?