ChrisBellini.com

“i” jokes aside, Rogers introduced some brutal pricing plans for the Apple iPhone.

Canada is a fairly laid-back country when it comes to almost everything, but if there’s anything that can be determined by the existence of RuinediPhone.com, it’s this: don’t fuck with our mobile data plans! MacLeans‘ latest issue contains a lengthy article comparing Canadians and Americans (aside: compare us to a different country like Denmark or Australia for a change please and thanks…sigh). It turns out that when compared to our US neighbours, we have greater wealth, carry less debt, are healthier, live longer, have more/better sex, enjoy better beer, blah blah blah. We’re still getting screwed on the cost of things other than greeting cards and books. Car and electronics companies have finally begun adjusting their pricing for the strengthening Loonie. Even Apple themselves, who I lambasted last year, have finally come around: base config on a MacBook Pro now only results in $100 difference between the US and Canadian online store - yay!

O2 in the UK and AT&T in the US both offer unlimited data plans. In fact, O2 offers nice ‘n’ short 18-month contracts and will even throw in the iPhone for free if you sign up for either the £45/month or £75/month plans. Rogers, on the other hand, give you fewer daytime minutes and the most data you can transfer in any given month is 2GB with their $115/month plan - no unlimited plans to be found. Go over your monthly data limit and you’re slapped with $0.50/MB for the first 60 MB, $.03/MB thereafter.

Time will tell if Apple will put the pressure on Rogers before the iPhone launches ten days from now.