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TOTA Mobile/Wireless/Celluar/VOIP Thread (pg. 79)
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View this Thread in Original format
| Chris Allen |
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| VERTiG0 |
| quote: | Originally posted by VERTiG0
Just checked my Rogers account summary after getting an email that my bill for this month is available.
$602.58.
What.
It says I used over 400MB of data. On their super slowass EDGE network. HAHAHAHHAHAH. SPB GPRS Monitor reports that I have used 168.4KB of data this month so far.
400MB. Hahahhahahhahha, oh Rogers. Someone's getting a nice phonecall tomorrow. |
So I call them up, they say that I've used barely 21MB of data, yet it shows on my bill that there is over 400MB of usage. Something's ed.
They keep trying to tell me that it's a valid charge, that I'll have to pay it. I politely ask to be transferred immediately to customer retentions, because I'd rather cancel my plan than pay those data charges.
2 minutes later, they have reversed all the charges, and given me a free month of service for my troubles.
Sweet. |
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| Jem_hadar |
| quote: | Originally posted by VERTiG0
So I call them up, they say that I've used barely 21MB of data, yet it shows on my bill that there is over 400MB of usage. Something's ed.
They keep trying to tell me that it's a valid charge, that I'll have to pay it. I politely ask to be transferred immediately to customer retentions, because I'd rather cancel my plan than pay those data charges.
2 minutes later, they have reversed all the charges, and given me a free month of service for my troubles.
Sweet. |
LOL you're the man, Cale. ^5 Good win. |
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| E2EK1EL |
O2 UK
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| Chris Allen |
| quote: | Originally posted by E2EK1EL
O2 UK
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And now there is no need to wonder why they were forced to stop taking pre-orders after they sold out early yesterday morning on the first day. |
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| Nerologic |
So rogers is going to sell out, what about ATT?
Do you guys think ours will sell out??
I have been getting mixed reviews and VERY confused. I know things will clear up the closer we get, but my ADD is kicking in LOL |
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| OrZonE |
| Anyone know of a good place to buy a flash cable from? Preferably downtown... |
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| dEsidEL |
ahahaha .. I so hope this is true ..
| quote: |
July 07, 2008
Has Rogers upset Apple?
Posted by Simon Cohen at 4:50 PM | E-mail this post
It's 4 days before the much anticipated launch of the iPhone in Canada. But could there be trouble brewing between Apple and their chosen carrier, Rogers?
We're not really in the habit of repeating rumours over here at Sync, but some rumours are just too hot to ignore.
Two days ago, a blogger named Daniel Smith, who writes a blog called Smithereens, posted an item about a possible falling-out between Apple and Rogers. Based on accounts of events that Smith has gleaned from someone he claims is an insider at Rogers, he has constructed the possibility that Rogers will not be receiving the number of iPhone units they expected for the initial launch on July 11th. Supposedly, the majority of iPhones once destined for Canada are now enroute to Europe.
Further citing the layoffs of temporary employees at certain Rogers retails locations as evidence of an unexpected slap on the hands, Smith conjectures that Apple is reacting to both the iPhone data plans that Rogers announced as well as the ensuing backlash by iPhone fans via a heavily supported online petition.
If the rumour is true it would certainly be bad news for Rogers, as it faces intense competition in the smartphone arena from both Bell's imminent launch of the Samsung Instinct and Telus's offering of the HTC Touch Diamond. While neither of these phones have the intense aura that surrounds Apple's iPhone, they do come with unlimited data options, which will likely play a role in consumers' decision-making.
Disclosure: Sympatico / MSN is a partnership between Microsoft and Bell Canada.
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source:
http://www.sync-blog.com/sync/2008/...ogers-upse.html
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| smuncky |
Get ready to pay for incoming text messages
Companies to bring in 15-cent levy on incoming text messages
Sarah Schmidt , Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, July 08, 2008
OTTAWA - Cellphone users are about to be hit with new fees as two of Canada's telecommunications giants plan to bring in a levy on incoming text messages.
Bell Mobility will begin charging customers 15 cents per incoming text message on Aug. 8. Telus Mobility is moving to the same billing practice effective Aug. 24. Until now, their pay-per-use customers who send text messages have been charged a 15-cent fee per message, but it hasn't cost anything to receive them.
The pending new charge has sparked outrage on blogs, with customers saying they can't control who sends them messages, especially when spammers obtain their cell number or retailers send them unsolicited messages.
"This charge is unbelievable. If someone sends me "spam" on my Bell phone, I have to pay for it? I made the mistake of giving my cellphone number to a car rental agency and now I get spam text messages," a Bell customer ranted on a Canadian technology blog.
"I actually work for Bell and I think this incoming text messages being charged is bogus!" posted another.
Text messaging has ballooned in popularity since inter-carrier service came to Canada in 2002.
In its first year, there were 369,000 text messages sent every day, or 11 million annually. Today, Canadians send 45.4 million per day, according to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. And cellphone subscribers sent 4.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, close to the annual total of 4.3 billion sent in 2006 and on track to surpass the 10.1 billion sent last year.
Association spokesman Marc Choma said the phenomenon has moved beyond the teenage crowd - known as the "early adopters" - to parents, who use it as a "family management tool."
Telus Mobility spokesperson AJ Gratton cites this rapid growth as the reason for the new charge.
"The growth in text messages has been nothing short of phenomenal," Gratton said. "This volume places tremendous demands on our network and we can't afford to provide this service for free anymore."
Characterizing the annual growth in text traffic on Bell's wireless network as "massive," company spokesman Jason Laszlo said the result has been greater capacity, licensing and support costs.
He said all but one of Bell's North American competitors charge for both incoming and outcoming text messages.
Bell and Telus customers can avoid the charge by switching to Rogers, which says it has no plans to institute a fee to receive a text message. But Bell and Telus both charge penalties if customers break their contracts, at $20 for every month remaining on a broken contract up to $400.
"We just don't charge for it, and have no plans to. Now it's a unique differentiator for Rogers," company spokeswoman Elizabeth Hamilton said of the move to charge for incoming messages.
Howard Chui, based in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, runs an online forum about the mobile phone industry in Canada. He isn't optimistic that consumers are going to win this fight. And he's not sure how long Rogers will hold out.
"I think overall customers will just have to take it," he said, characterizing the three Canadian carriers as an "oligopoly."
Rogers is dealing with its own customer backlash over its rate plans for the Apple iPhone, on store shelves on Friday. The company, which has an exclusive iPhone carrier arrangement with Apple Inc. in Canada, is offering monthly plans ranging from $60 to $155.
The proposed fee schedule has unleashed an online campaign against Rogers, under the tagline "Screwing Canadian iPhone customers since '08."
Canadians already pay more than Europeans and Americans for cellphone services. Industry Minister Jim Prentice acknowledged this fact in the spring when he opened Canada's wireless spectrum auction.
Industry Canada set aside 40 megahertz, out of a total 105, for smaller companies to compete against the established telecommunications giants. Prentice said "the intent behind the auction is lower prices, more choice for consumers.'"
© Canwest News Service 2008 |
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| Orko |
^^ Man our telecom industry is ed up. Instead of getting better deals, with fewer restrictions and better technology we are going backwards. Pay for incoming text messages? And no more unlimited internet? Yup, time to leave Canada. Who knew it would be over technology?
Thankfully there is some good news on the horizon:
| quote: | Spectrum auction nearing conclusion
The cozy world of Canadian telecom appears set for a shakeup, as Ottawa's auction of wireless spectrum licences draws to an end and a major foreign phone company readies to pump money into a new national network.
Canadian consumers can expect to see more enticing price packages tailored to both heavy and light users of mobile voice and data. At the same time, investors in Canadian telecom firms should prepare for weakening valuations, some experts say.
The changes won't occur overnight. It will take about two years for the winners of the new licences to build infrastructure and operations. But the auction results are a watershed moment in Canadian communications, said Genuity Capital analyst Dvai Ghose.
Six weeks of aggressive bidding have pushed prices far above all initial expectations. But a small, private Canadian firm called Globalive Communications Corp., which sells Yak long-distance services, has managed to win licences across the country, with the critical exception of Quebec. Another new player, Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless Inc., a venture of Canadian satellite-radio king John Bitove and Microsoft Corp.'s co-founder Paul Allen, has obtained spectrum in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.
Regionally, Calgary's Shaw Communications Inc., Quebecor Inc. (which owns Vidéotron Télécom Ltée), and Atlantic Canada's Bragg Communications Inc. have each obtained enough spectrum to build wireless networks in their home regions.
Industry Canada will conclude the auction when there are no new high bids. Just a trickle occurred yesterday, with bidders vying for control of four slices of airwaves in northern Canada, Southern Ontario and Red Deer, Alta.
The results of the auction mean there will be two to three new players in most markets, rather than just one, as originally expected. The exception is in Quebec, one of the most intense battlegrounds, where at considerable cost Quebecor appears to have captured most of the new licences and quashed Globalive's hopes of a truly national network.
Analysts, however, say there is plenty of room for Globalive to make a reciprocity deal with Quebecor, possibly opening up Western spectrum for the Quebec firm.
In addition to the $444.1-million Globalive has committed to buying spectrum rights, it will need to spend about $1-billion to build its network across the country, Mr. Ghose estimates.
This level of upfront cost makes it very difficult for a newcomer to succeed in Canada's telecom market. Today, the $12.7-billion wireless industry is dominated by three companies whose profit margins are higher than almost anywhere else in the world: Rogers Communications Inc., Bell Canada and Telus Corp.
But Globalive has collected some powerful partners in its quest to build a new national wireless network: Weather Investments, controlled by Egypt's Naguib Sawiris, and Novator, founded by Iceland's Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson.
Through Weather and its holdings in a firm called Orascom, Mr. Sawiris rules a wireless empire with more than 90 million clients in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. His customers are based in such diverse markets at Italy and North Korea. In a recent interview with The Globe and Mail, he said he was attracted to the Canadian market by a dearth of competition.
"The competitive environment is not competitive enough, which means at the end the consumer is not getting his best deal," Mr. Sawiris said.
With a total of 94 million subscribers around the world, Weather/Orascom "enjoys a level of scale that cannot be matched by any of Canada's wireless incumbents," Mr. Ghose said.
For example, the company is the biggest customer to equipment gear maker Alcatel-Lucent, which gives it sway on pricing and financing. The volume of its business also gives it leverage with manufacturers of handsets.
Weather will try to use its scale to help Globalive build a network more cheaply than anyone else and give the firm "a significant competitive advantage," Mr. Ghose said.
With lower costs, and experience selling competitive phone services in diverse markets, Weather and Globalive will likely offer wireless packages that the incumbents have so far declined to provide, he added.
Mr. Ghose says it makes little sense for new entrants to build more than one network and he sees other players buying capacity on infrastructure built by Globalive. In addition, resellers could jump on the bandwagon, buying space from Globalive and offering inexpensive alternatives to the incumbents' discount brands, Fido (Rogers), Solo (Bell) and Koodo (Telus), he says.
The new entrants will need time to build their networks and establish their wireless operations and they are unlikely to have an effect for several years.
But their mere presence on the sidelines is introducing uncertainty in the market for Rogers, Bell and Telus. Mr. Ghose cut his price targets on both Rogers (to $45 from $54) and Telus (to $43 from $50) yesterday. |
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...Technology/home |
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| dEsidEL |
| quote: | Originally posted by smuncky
Get ready to pay for incoming text messages
Companies to bring in 15-cent levy on incoming text messages
Sarah Schmidt , Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, July 08, 2008
OTTAWA - Cellphone users are about to be hit with new fees as two of Canada's telecommunications giants plan to bring in a levy on incoming text messages.
Bell Mobility will begin charging customers 15 cents per incoming text message on Aug. 8. Telus Mobility is moving to the same billing practice effective Aug. 24. Until now, their pay-per-use customers who send text messages have been charged a 15-cent fee per message, but it hasn't cost anything to receive them.
The pending new charge has sparked outrage on blogs, with customers saying they can't control who sends them messages, especially when spammers obtain their cell number or retailers send them unsolicited messages.
"This charge is unbelievable. If someone sends me "spam" on my Bell phone, I have to pay for it? I made the mistake of giving my cellphone number to a car rental agency and now I get spam text messages," a Bell customer ranted on a Canadian technology blog.
"I actually work for Bell and I think this incoming text messages being charged is bogus!" posted another.
Text messaging has ballooned in popularity since inter-carrier service came to Canada in 2002.
In its first year, there were 369,000 text messages sent every day, or 11 million annually. Today, Canadians send 45.4 million per day, according to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. And cellphone subscribers sent 4.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, close to the annual total of 4.3 billion sent in 2006 and on track to surpass the 10.1 billion sent last year.
Association spokesman Marc Choma said the phenomenon has moved beyond the teenage crowd - known as the "early adopters" - to parents, who use it as a "family management tool."
Telus Mobility spokesperson AJ Gratton cites this rapid growth as the reason for the new charge.
"The growth in text messages has been nothing short of phenomenal," Gratton said. "This volume places tremendous demands on our network and we can't afford to provide this service for free anymore."
Characterizing the annual growth in text traffic on Bell's wireless network as "massive," company spokesman Jason Laszlo said the result has been greater capacity, licensing and support costs.
He said all but one of Bell's North American competitors charge for both incoming and outcoming text messages.
Bell and Telus customers can avoid the charge by switching to Rogers, which says it has no plans to institute a fee to receive a text message. But Bell and Telus both charge penalties if customers break their contracts, at $20 for every month remaining on a broken contract up to $400.
"We just don't charge for it, and have no plans to. Now it's a unique differentiator for Rogers," company spokeswoman Elizabeth Hamilton said of the move to charge for incoming messages.
Howard Chui, based in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, runs an online forum about the mobile phone industry in Canada. He isn't optimistic that consumers are going to win this fight. And he's not sure how long Rogers will hold out.
"I think overall customers will just have to take it," he said, characterizing the three Canadian carriers as an "oligopoly."
Rogers is dealing with its own customer backlash over its rate plans for the Apple iPhone, on store shelves on Friday. The company, which has an exclusive iPhone carrier arrangement with Apple Inc. in Canada, is offering monthly plans ranging from $60 to $155.
The proposed fee schedule has unleashed an online campaign against Rogers, under the tagline "Screwing Canadian iPhone customers since '08."
Canadians already pay more than Europeans and Americans for cellphone services. Industry Minister Jim Prentice acknowledged this fact in the spring when he opened Canada's wireless spectrum auction.
Industry Canada set aside 40 megahertz, out of a total 105, for smaller companies to compete against the established telecommunications giants. Prentice said "the intent behind the auction is lower prices, more choice for consumers.'"
© Canwest News Service 2008 |
haha oh man are you kidding me ..
gotta love the Canadian wireless industry .. 1 step forward, 8 steps backwards
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| malek |
is someone old enough here to remember if in fact we used to pay for incoming txt messages when SMS was brand new?
I swear that I used to pay for them in the days of clearnet... |
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