As soon as Rogers Wireless announced its iPhone 3G plans, there were as many howls of protests as there were cheers. Electronista managed to talk about the plans with a Rogers spokeswoman who defended them and the fact that there is no unlimited data plan (as offered by AT&T in the U.S. and a few others).
Rogers noted that a “majority” of international carriers are capping iPhone 3G data plans and argues that its plans are superior to many of those. The spokeswoman also said that “Unlimited plans could end up costing customers more for what they don’t use.” As Electronista points out, there is a contradiction between the argument that caps are in customers’ best interests and then saying that customers use little data. If Canadians use little data, why not just give us a single unlimited plan? Would everyone not win in that case?
Personally, I’m leaning towards not getting the iPhone at this point. The plans, while expensive compared to many other countries, are much more reasonable than what we have seen in the past in Canada. I’ve held off getting a data plan to date because I did not want to have to hand over my first-born. What annoys me more is the three year commitment. By then, Apple will likely have come out with newer iPhones (not to mention all its competitors and their new devices) and I suspect that every upgrade will give Rogers an opportunity to further extend contracts (lifetime servitude?). I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that Rogers will offer similar plans for Windows Mobile devices and then pick up something like an HTC Touch Pro and avoid the long-term contract.