14 DAY TRIAL // Following Rogers Communications' announcement on iPhone 3G Data plans on Friday, "thousands of angry Canadians have made their feelings known in various homegrown websites, including eh Mac, GeekCulture, and blog.r4nt," Fortune is reporting. However, the largest protest is a petition available at Ruined iPhone, which even you can sign in an attempt to change Rogers/Fido's mind about the tariffs.
Rogers Communications is Canada's largest mobile carrier and the only one with a contract to sell Apple's iPhone in the respective territory (don't they just love being themselves right now...). The company announced its data pricing plans for the iPhone 3G recently:
"As Canada's leading wireless carrier, Rogers is thrilled to not only bring the iPhone 3G to Canada but to make it affordable and accessible to as many customers as possible," said John Boynton, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Wireless, at the time it was announcing its data plans. "We've designed a pricing structure that offers affordable, flexible voice and data packages so Canadians can truly unleash their iPhone 3G experience on Canada's fastest wireless network."
As it turns out, Rogers Wireless' Chief Marketing Officer should have loosened up on those epithets. Aside from the 750 MB cap on 3G data usage for $75 a month, not to mention less texts and less calling time than AT&T in the US for the same price, Rogers claims that its top plan, priced at $115 (which includes 2 GB per month) is good for loading "16,000 webpages." According to Fortune, petitioners immediately pointed out that a single Facebook page can account for 1.2 MB, which drastically reduces the browsing experience to just 1,600 pages loaded. Sure, you don't just access Facebook on the iPhone, but you get the point. Adding the App Store and all the other nifty things you can do on the iPhone that require data transfer, 2GB is too little even for the casual iPhone user, keeping in mind the high price.
At ruinediphone.com, it is stated that their goal is to gather 10,000 names by July 11 (the launch date for Apple's iPhone 3G). 24 hours into the site's existence some 10,400 Canadians had signed the petition. A model of an Open Letter to Steve Jobs goes a bit like this:
"Dear Steve,
My name is James and I would like to thank you for creating the wonderful iPhone device. We really think that you will change the world with it, just as you changed the world with the iPod. We were so happy to learn that on July 11th, we would finally be able to buy the iPhone and legally use it in Canada.
To our great disappointment, Rogers Communications Inc. has announced VERY unfair rates in comparison to AT&T in the United States and to other authorized wireless service providers around the world. As a result, a consumer movement was born yesterday (June 27th) in protest against these rates. [...] I was going to buy an iPhone for me, my girlfriend and my family.
Now, sadly, I cannot afford the plan.
I hope you can do something Steve; we are loyal customers and trust that you will. We don't want to lose faith in Apple."
Canada residents, and not only, are welcome to drop in a line regarding Rogers Wireless' attitude towards (potential) customers.