Rogers bringing the iPhone to Canada? Oh, that would mean competing.
The reason Rogers is tight-lipped about why it hasn’t struck a deal to bring Apple’s iPhone into Canada is because it would involve an embarrassing admission: To make the iPhone financially attractive, Rogers would have to cut the rates it charges its customers for data. And what company wants to cut its prices when there is no pressure on them to do so?
Well, that pressure is beginning to rise.
Canadians would have to pay $400 for the iPhone, and to use all the iPhone features, about $300 a month in voice and data fees (the iPhone is a heavy user of mobile data transfer). By comparison, AT&T, the sole company offering the iPhone in the United States, allows a plan for $100 that includes 1,350 minutes of voice calls, unlimited data, video voice mail, 200 text messages and unlimited use nights and weekends.
We can’t blame Rogers for their monopoly position. The blame belongs to the CRTC for allowing Rogers to buy out Fido, the assimilation handing the entire GSM space into only notional competition. Indeed, I’d have advised Rogers to buy Fido, it was a win for them on every level.
I had the opportunity to take an iPhone as part of my deal to talk at Office 2.0 last month in San Francisco. But really, what’s the value to me if I’d be paying through the nose every month on the bill? Nope, I just become a non-consumer.
My thanks to David Janes for the link.
