Rogers Tries (And Fails) To Appease Angry iPhone Buyers As Belgians Contemplate $1,000 iPhones
from the ain't-so-cheap dept
Part of the supposed appeal of the new 3G iPhone when it was announced by Steve Jobs a few months back was that it was going to be much cheaper than the old iPhone. That was true until you actually looked at the fine print. The $199 pricing only applied in the US to those who signed a long-term contract with AT&T -- for which you had to pay higher service fees. In other countries the story was also questionable. Up in Canada, the only national GSM provider, Rogers, caused a stir with ridiculously high service plans. After a rather loud protest, Rogers has pretended to relent by having a limited-time offer for cheaper data rates, though still not offering an unlimited plan. This has potential customers still pretty ticked off:So, all early adopters that will ever be interested in the iPhone will have to buy by August 31. It's a ridiculous idea, and an obvious attempt to turn a concession demanded by the market into a cudgel against its customers -- not only can you not have an unlimited plan, but you can't buy at your leisure -- for example, waiting a few months to see if users reports overcharge horror stories from Rogers' miserly plans. You have to "buy now!!!, this offer is **limited**" What nonsense. If the plan is a bona fide effort to respond to a recognized customer need in a responsible manner, it should not be time limited.Meanwhile, folks over in Belgium have a different problem. Due to laws forbidding the entirely reasonable practice of bundling goods together with subsidized pricing, you can only buy the phone at full price: which works out to nearly $1,000. On the good side, this has highlighted how dumb the "no subsidized bundling" law is, and politicians are looking to toss it out this fall.
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Filed Under: belgium, canada, iphone, prices
Companies: rogers
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That's not the worst part
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More Rogers skullduggery
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Re: More Rogers skullduggery
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It's bad enough that I'm overpaying for my phones and service, but to think that some of my money goes to buy politicians just adds insult to injury.
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iNoPhone
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Don't See Why...
I know that it is an amazing piece of tec', but at crazy-high prices I don't see that it's so much better then anything else.
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Re: Don't See Why...
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Re: Don't See Why...
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what?
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Re: what?
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Re: what?
However.
Like in the United States the regulators (CRTC in Canada, FCC in the US) are operating on the needless notion that they must encourage the wireless industry.
So what do we get in Canada? We get three major wireless carriers who pretty much operate in lock step, offer the same plans with minor variations but with the same lock in and are owned by wired carriers. Two telephone and one cable.
Oh yes, and two of the three now want to charge you for every text message received unless you have a plan that includes free texting.
Similar things are happening in the States.
So tell me, just how are we better off than we were in the old monopoly days?
Oh yes, and the US and Canada have the lowest penetration of wireless in the G8.
ttfn
John
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Re: what?
Monopolies and cartels are not free market. They mean vendors gouging the market to their advantage, raping customers. Government intervention is desirable to avoid this kind of mess. Unfortunately, our conservative government and the CRTC wants to keep Canadian corporations happy, and have no intention to keep the customers happy or to guarantee the existence of a free market by allowing, for example, the arrival of foreign operators.
So please, before chanting the advantages of free market, have a look to see if what you're talking about looks like a free market.
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Thats nothing..
Is an iPhone worth $4199?????
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Suck it up
People are ridiculous. There are far more important things in life than whether or not you are the first on your block with a 3G phone.
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Unbundling ain't dumb
These only appeared after allowing experimental period to allow bundling plans for 3G cell phones a couple of years back. And guess what, we pretty much hate them - having learned to appreciate all the freedom, and being cost-conscious enough to calculate the true total price of the bundled goods (you will more often than not have paid more for the phone by the end of 2 years, can't change operators, phones or chip in a foreign SIM on travels before the contract is through).
Same goes for the iPhone, calculating the price for 2 year plan has definitely raised a few eyebrows over here. Of course the more innocent phone users here are expecting the device reasonably priced, unlocked, unbundled and without long contracts, just like our beloved Nokias have always been...
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Re: Unbundling ain't dumb
If you have vigorous competition and a truly free market, the government doesn't need to step in and ban business practices, because any that customers don't like will fail. If they ban something like forced bundling, that will be at best useless, and at worst get rid of something that some customers would prefer.
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Iphone
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Re: Iphone
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Re: Re: Iphone
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'no subsidized packages'
What the 'full price' of $1000 (600 Euro) should reveal is how stupidly expensive the iPhone is.
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Re:
Give me a PDA with Google Android on it. That might be worth a little extra money.
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And the award goes to...
Apple + expensive = always together.
I think what people tend to forget is the "$199" phone isn't what Apple charges phone companies, so guess who ends up paying for it (and interest!) in the long run.
Bend over, consumer. This one's gonna hurt.
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From what I can see it isn't that amazing. As usual there are better cheaper alternatives out there rather then forking out a heap of cash for a smudgy brick that will lock on you if you try use decent software on it.
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I don't believe the costs shown to the consumer are true costs
clap trap. These phones are commodity devices which are produced in
numbers which should dwarf the number of laptops that are produced.
The components in these phones are commodity -- they aren't special
grade electronics. And, even if they were special, the economies of
scale of mass production would make the parts cheaper.
Laptops which are far more capable, and with more components in them
are produced for less than $500.
Does anyone have a reference to the 'tear down prices' for any of these
cell phones which are so expensive normally, but cheap when
subsidized?
I just don't buy into the marketing story that they are expensive
without subsidization. I do accept that they are stupefyingly marked
up to make you take the 'subsidized' price and a long term contract,
but I don't believe that the subsidy affects the actual cost of the
handset.
So, can we please stop talking about how the 'subsidy' makes them
cheap? They aren't really subsidized, it's just another marketing
plan to separate you from your money.
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Re: I don't believe the costs shown to the consumer are true costs
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Re: I don't believe the costs shown to the consumer are true costs
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Rogers just trying to suck everyone in
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laugh laugh
Don't like Roger rates? Tough shxt, don't buy an iPhone. Don't buy anything Rogers offers. And PLEASE, don't go crying to the Canadian government to intercede on your behalf. The way to influence Rogers to change their ways is by customers leaving and making it clear to them WHY.
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Rogers Billing
I do not see why they cant figure this out. I think their should be a class action lawsuit aganst Rogers
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