Rogers [kind of] blinks
July 9th 2008
Fido, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rogers, has announced that through August 31 iPhone buyers can purchase a three-year, data-only add-on that offers 6GB of data for $30 a month. This "upgrade" of a sort can be added to any of the company's 3G iPhone plans.
"Fido is excited to bring iPhone 3G to Canadians with the choice of even more data," said Sylvain Roy, general manager, Fido. "iPhone 3G is the perfect device to complement our customers' urban lifestyle, with its amazing web browsing capabilities, iconic design and interface, and high speed network access."
The company also says, just like Rogers, that iPhone 3G customers will have the choice to select from Fido's existing voice and smartphone data plans and / or additional features.
On Monday, IGM reported that Apple is diverting 3G iPhones intended for Canada and Rogers to European countries.
To date, over 56,000 people have signed grassroots protest group Ruined iPhone's online petition demanding that Rogers bolster rate plan features and cut prices. Also, as of this writing, more than 1,000 people have pledged to cancel their Rogers contracts in protest.
However, it's worth noting that both the petition and pledge forms, respectively, allow anyone to add their name and email address.
Editor's note: Although Engadget, Gizmodo and others are running headlines stating that Rogers has "caved," I doubt this quarter measure will satisfy many as the wireless carrier is essentially saying that they're willing to meet users half way but only for a limited time...
What's your take?
