I agree... but I think there is some positioning at foot at the moment. I can't seem to find it right now, but there was an audio capture of an apparent conference call with Rogers board of directors, it was a technology person reporting project status, etc... if someone has it, post it.
Anyways, from that and what I think might be happening is that Rogers is reaching a point of capacity with their 3G network (remember, there are a lot of devices still to come) and that pumping more cash into it is not worth it. According to the call, they are working at launching their 4G and LTE wireless services (~40Mbit) and want to push people to that service instead of their 3G network and their cable internet.... basically strip down their cable network to support only television channels (Digital HD). Pushing everything to LTE (maybe keep 3G for phone only?) Not sure... but I'm guessing they crank the 3G data prices, implement LTE and have those prices more in line with real Internet usage (cable internet)... making it compelling to have people convert their data packages to LTE.... Either way, it's bait and switch... and it's annoying. Chuck -----Original Message----- From: Michael Roberts [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: January-20-10 2:48 PM To: Elliott Jeyaseelan; Chuck Mariotti; asterisk Mailing Subject: RE: [on-asterisk] Wireless Internet Data Plans - way too syncronized? Hey Guys, That kind of thing has a name. It is called collusion, and is illegal under many jurisdictions including commercial regulatory and criminal law. What you describe clearly sounds competition-limiting. > -----Original Message----- > From: Elliott Jeyaseelan [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 3:36 PM > To: Chuck Mariotti; asterisk Mailing > Subject: RE: [on-asterisk] Wireless Internet Data Plans - way too > syncronized? > > Chuck, > > Would satellite internet options not be suitable in such a case? > > In all honestly, I am convinced all the operators except for maybe the > new guy (Wind Mobile) gets together in some secret location and > discusses the rate plans to screw the subscriber. The Canadian > wireless industry is out there to make hefty profits. > > With so few competition, its best to keep everything the same or > similar, that way they all could make lofty profits, why rock the boat > !! > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Chuck Mariotti [mailto:[email protected]] > > Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 3:26 PM > > To: asterisk Mailing > > Subject: [on-asterisk] Wireless Internet Data Plans - way too > > syncronized? > > > > I have a client that is using the Rogers Stick for daily internet > > access. She uses it a lot and is well above the 5GB package (20GB > > actually). > > > > When she bought the stick, and every single time I looked at it, > > Rogers always said that there was a $100 cap on the maximum you > > would be charged. Meaning, if you went above your > > $30 plan, it would bump you to $35, then $40, then $45... > > etc... but to a maximum of $100. > > > > Last month and the month before, she received a bill for > > ~$600 (each month) for data usage. Apparently, they sent her inserts > > with her bill indicating that the $100 cap would be discontinued (I > > never look at anything other than the bill either). After much > > fighting, she has a credit back, but the problem is now, she can't > > use her stick the way she wants to. > > > > Can Rogers really (they already did), just bait and switch like > > that? Go from a dollar cap to an insane dollar amount? I can maybe > > understand increasing the cap (say to $125 or $150), or placing in > > more tiers for bandwidth hogs but to just remove it, seems a rather > > horrible move to get more user to use the service. > > > > Looking at other providers now, also shows that they too, have > > capped data... From what I can see, they are ALL priced the exact > > same... in other words, it's like they all had a meeting and synced > > up their plans to screw all their high usage users and give them no > > other options but to stay > where they are. > > > > They even offer a 3G hub now to use at home, but with the same > > stupid caps. This also smells fishy if they really do intend on > > implementing LTE services, the caps seem very small for the money. > > Something is up, some sort of positioning... I read that Virgin > > (Bell's discount carrier) is going to be introducing data services, > > I imagine at the same rate as well. > > > > Does anyone have any experience or advice on this? I was thinking if > > she bought out some people with iPhone 6GB $35 plans, she could get > > 3 or 4 of them, and just swap in a new SIM each week... would still > > be cheaper than what she would have to pay to Rogers (assuming no > > other options on the plan, like minutes, etc...) Even this is not a > > long term plan since those plans would expire shortly I imagine. > > Unfortunately, she has no other internet options where she lives. > > > > ChuckM > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional > commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
