Results tagged “wireless”

In yet another significant change of policy following customer outrage, Rogers appears to have changed the rule that prevented existing customers who had changed their phones over the past year from upgrading to an iPhone. According to a forum thread on ehMac.ca (sent to us and confirmed by reader K. Robson), existing Rogers wireless customers can now get iPhones so long as their wireless account has been active for at least three months. Hey, maybe Rogers doesn't have contempt for their customers after all—maybe they're just totally inept.

People are scamming the city's parking machines to the tune of $1 million per year. Apparently you can use an expired pre-paid credit card to park for free because the machines don't check to see if the cards have credit left on them. The Toronto Parking Authority has known about this since 1998, but hasn't done anything because what the hell—it's only money.

As we've pointed out many times before, Rogers boasts an exceptional brand of contempt for its non-business wireless customers, but the launch of Apple's desperately anticipated iPhone has exposed a whole set of new lows for the Toronto-based company. Due to a breathtakingly boneheaded policy in place by the company's National Planning Department, existing customers currently under a Rogers contract and who have upgraded their handset within the year are prohibited from purchasing an iPhone. At all.

At Friday's Jays-Yankees game, Alex Rodriguez got hit where it hurts when a pack of Jays fans—one who looks conspicuously like Seann William Scott—teased him with photos of Madonna. (Cynthia Rodriguez had just filed for divorce, her lawyer saying that she was "emotionally cheated" on by her husband with the singer.) Unfortunately, Rodriguez struck back by exploiting the Jay's only weakness: getting many runs scored against them.

Rogers has just announced that they will sell a $30 6 GB data plan for the iPhone that can be added to any voice plan, so long as customers sign up on or before August 31. The Rogers Plus store at 112 Dundas Street East will be open early at 8 a.m. on Friday to sell the phones; they will be sold at other Rogers stores during regular business hours, but will not be sold at Apple stores. (The rumour is that Apple was "disgusted" with Rogers' plans. Rogers declined comment.) The new offer on the table isn't perfect, but it's something.

A day after Google called out Bell for throttling BitTorrent traffic, and a few days before Rogers releases the iPhone in Canada to significant customer dissatisfaction (the latest news is that Apple won't even be selling iPhones from their own retail stores because of Apple's dissatisfaction with Rogers' pricing plans), Bell and Telus have decided to up the ante, lower the telecom bar, and infuriate their customers even more.

Rogers has unveiled its iPhone 3G plans, and, as anticipated, they're really not that great. No unlimited data plan, mandatory three-year contract, no pie, and the best plan—2 GB data allowance with 800 minutes of talk time and unlimited evenings and weekends—will cost ya a cool $115 a month, not including those nice extra charges Rogers always slaps on. [via Dead Robot.]

The second-generation iPhone was unveiled today, and it is (officially, legally, and dear God finally) coming to Canada on July 11 this year. Just over a month ago, with rumours abounding about the new release, Rogers announced that they would be the phone's exclusive carrier here, but provided no further details as to how they would figure out a way to suck all the awesome out of it.

Photo by Denmar from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.