iPhone hardware could be expensive for existing Rogers customers

If you’re a current Rogers Wireless customer (as I am), you may have assumed that you will be able to get an iPhone for the advertised prices of $199 and $299 for the 8GB and 16GB respectively by signing a 3-year contract. However, this is not necessarily the case. I called Rogers today and asked about this.

First of all, I want to congratulate Rogers on their support. At least they’ve got something right (certainly not pricing). I called twice around noon PST and never waited at all. I was told that I still have 6 months left on my current contract, which means I’m not eligible for the introductory pricing reserved for new customers. However, since I haven’t upgraded my phone during my contract I am eligible for a hardware upgrade. The first representative didn’t know what the upgrade pricing was going to be for the iPhone, but I called a second time and representative Denise did know. She told me I could get an 8GB for $249 or a 16GB for $349 if I signed up for a 3-year contract (like the rest of the suckers). Plus, I would get a $50 mail-in rebate bringing it back down to $199 and $299.

So, in my case it works out to the same. But what about other Rogers Wireless customers who have already upgraded their phone once in the past 3 years, or those who just bought a new phone last year. How does it work for them? My guess is that they will be paying close to the full price.

I’m still on the fence about buying an iPhone. There’s a part of me that believes that this could be the dawn of the omnipresence of the internet in Canada. Everyone will have internet access wherever they go, in their cars, on the bus, mostly everywhere. This will usher in a whole new world of applications. However, there’s another part of me that feels that Rogers is going to prevent this from happening with their expensive and complicated pricing, allowing other countries to get even further ahead of us in mobile internet.