Rogers Wireless unveiled its iPhone price plans Friday, but contrary to recent speculation among techno-geeks, they don't include unlimited data.
Company spokeswoman Liz Hamilton said Rogers is following the lead of most international iPhone service providers with its monthly packages, which range from $60 to $115 and cap data from 400 megabytes to two gigabyes.
"We believe they are high-value plans. They allow you to fully appreciate all that the phone has to offer," Hamilton said.
The most hotly anticipated wireless device since the Blackberry enables users to surf the Internet, watch videos, play games and check e-mail. It will hit Canadian stores on July 11.
But Eamon Hoey, a Toronto-based industry consultant, said if you want to enjoy all the phone's features, only the highest-priced plan will do. He described the iPhone's capabilities at the $60 level as "a well-powered cellphone."
Patient consumers won't have to wait long for other providers to come out with similar products at cheaper rates -- possibly one-third as much, he said.
"The iPhone is at the high end of the market; competitors will come right underneath it. It won't be long until a factory in China or India is churning out the knock-off iPhone. You'll have trouble looking at the two devices and telling which is which," Hoey said.
Even without unlimited data, Hamilton said most customers will find their needs are more than adequately met with what Rogers is offering.
"Four hundred megs of data is a lot. That's 200,000 e-mails a month," she says.
The $60 service will get a person 150 minutes of voice time, with unlimited evenings and weekends, allowance for 75 outgoing text
messages, and, as with all plans, unlimited incoming text messages and voice mail. The 400 megabytes of data will allow a person to transmit up to 200,000 text e-mails or view 3,100 web pages or 1,360 photo attachments.
The high-end service gets you 800 minutes of voice and the ability to send 300 text messages. Two gigabytes is enough to send one million text e-mails or view 16,000 web pages or 7,000 photo attachments. The minimum three-year plans also come with unlimited WiFi access at Rogers or Fido hot spots.
To ensure consumers don't unwittingly go over their data allotment, Hamilton said Rogers will send out no-cost alerts when they hit the 80 per cent mark.
The iPhone comes in two varieties -- an eight-gigabyte version for $199 and a 16-gigabyte model for $299.
-- with files from Canwest News Service
geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca
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