Getting a cellular data plan in Canada is senseless. Here are the best deals I could find by wandering around the vendor websites:
| Bell | $100 = 250Mb/month + $3/Mb after |
| Rogers | $100 = 100Mb/month + ?/Mb after |
| Fido | $100 = 200Mb/month + $5/Mb after |
| Telus | $100 = 250Mb/month + $3/Mb after |
For comparison purposes, in the US, unlimited internet access on your smartphone is 20 dollars!. Don’t believe, me? Here’s a chart snipped from the cingular website:
It looks like it costs more if you want to use the phone as a modem for your laptop, but even then it seems that you can get an unlimited plan for $60. Wow! Only $60 for per month for unlimited internet access! Hey, Rogers: I will personally guarantee that if you offer that pricing plan in Canada, I will sign up for at least one full year. I bet I know several other people who would go for it as well.
The Canadian vendors really have to realize that their pricing just doesn’t make sense any more. Think about the iPhone. At one point there was a rumour that Rogers was going to carry it. Would it make sense to own an iPhone connected to a Rogers network? No. The iPhone has a real web browser on it. Using that, in the way it was intended, could blow your entire monthly allotment in a single session. Heck, just doing the research for this article cost me 5Meg or so of data. Bah!
Not that it will do any good, but if you feel like venting your frustration about this, there’s an online petition you can sign. I signed it.
So, I bought a Treo 680 today, and they offered me 3 months unlimited internet for $60 a month. Well, in keeping with what I said above, I went for it. Now all I have to do is remember to turn the feature off once the 3 months are up. 🙂