Data Roaming in the US.... 50MB $7.99 starting in spring

[TheLastPrincess]

Worry-free U.S. Wireless Data Roaming!


For Canadians who spend more time online than citizens of any other country, access to the internet on our wireless devices is a must – no matter if we are north of the border or travelling to the States. We know that customers want affordable roaming rates, so we’re leading the market, introducing our new pay-per-use roaming rate, a simple way for consumer and business customers to travel with their wireless device.

Launching this spring, customers visiting the U.S. get 50 megabytes of data over a 24 hour period for a pay-per-use fee of $7.99. Ninety-nine percent of customers won’t come close to that limit. Just how much can you do with 50 MB?

•Browse 50 maps
•Browse 200 web pages
•Send 1,000 emails
•Send 5,000 Tweets
•Send 128 photos

That’s nearly twice the data our customers would typically use at home each day. Plus, we’ll send you an alert if you’re 50 megabytes are almost up!

[WorldIRC]

Let's put it into perspective -- 1 week = $56 and gets you 350MB, which is between the $40 - 100MB and $100 - 500MB feature I see these days.

Only problem is this nullifies the ability to Hotspot over the course of the week since the data usage is allocated daily instead of a large bucket (unless they come up with a larger weekly, or better priced monthly pass).

[WorldIRC]

That being said, I'd love to see Bell adapt this or something better. On Bell, $40 - 100MB (30 days) is kind of pricey and kind of tight for those 1 week trips, and $100 - 500MB (30 days) is overkill for those 1 week trips. $56 for 7 days (50MB / day) would be much easier to swallow.

[WorldIRC]

Question OP: Why is Rogers waiting for Q2 to launch this? I suppose since people are going on vacation NOW they'd rather continue milking for as long as possible?

[jattdesi]

^That's because it's Rogers we are talking about, however I have noticed they are make better changes then Bell.

Sent from an unlocked Rogers LG Optimus G with LTE 2600MHz Band on the Shared Bellus LTE/HSPA + Network

[WorldIRC]

^That's because it's Rogers we are talking about, however I have noticed they are make better changes then Bell.

Sent from an unlocked Rogers LG Optimus G with LTE 2600MHz Band on the Shared Bellus LTE/HSPA + Network

I wouldn't be so quick to slam Bell -- they have been making amazing efforts recently to improve their image. And this is reflected in their sales.

[jattdesi]

^I am not talking about the sales, I am talking about unlocking policies, ETF, DETF and not to mention pay per use Data on there own network I believed is still $51.20 a MB.

Sent from an unlocked Rogers LG Optimus G with LTE 2600MHz Band on the Shared Bellus LTE/HSPA + Network

[WorldIRC]

^I am not talking about the sales, I am talking about unlocking policies, ETF, DETF and not to mention pay per use Data on there own network I believed is still $51.20 a MB.

Sent from an unlocked Rogers LG Optimus G with LTE 2600MHz Band on the Shared Bellus LTE/HSPA + Network

The unlock policy that you're not a fan of, only applies to the iPhone. All other phones are unlockable at 30 days. This is being re-reviewed soon.
PPU data on all current plans is based on a tiered model. Only older plans, just like with the competition, have the old $51.20 / MB policy.
ECF / DECF policy will be revamped on Monday.

A lot of other things on Bell have chnaged for the better though. Until recent, Rogers was still charging GRRF. Bells customer service is light years ahead of Rogers on the Mobility side. The website and access to information on Bell is better to.

Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages, but to unilaterally say one is better than the other would not be a fair statement at this time.

[TheLastPrincess]

Question OP: Why is Rogers waiting for Q2 to launch this? I suppose since people are going on vacation NOW they'd rather continue milking for as long as possible?

Would you prefer they didn't do it at all? Have not heard a peep from other providers, which is really surprising. I guess they will announce on Monday.

I know I will probably get slammed for this but:
I realize "certain companies" probably make a tonne of money off of roaming charges but the amount they credit for "I didn't know that it would cost this much" or "I thought it was included" is insane. If you knew the amount "certain companies" forgive in roaming charges in a week it would shock your socks off.

[WorldIRC]

Would you prefer they didn't do it at all?

Yup -- I have products and services to sell. But why bother announcing "great changes" that are not coming for months?

[WorldIRC]

I realize "certain companies" probably make a tonne of money off of roaming charges but the amount they credit for "I didn't know that it would cost this much" or "I thought it was included" is insane. If you knew the amount "certain companies" forgive in roaming charges in a week it would shock your socks off.

I am very well aware of the amount of "PR Gestures" certain companies offer. However, this "fake" money doesn't really "cost" the carriers anything. Just lost potential revenues (hence why the departments are called Revenue Assurance).

I had a client billed with $4000 in EU roaming charges -- client was mis-qualified with the wrong features. Had they had the proper features, total roaming costs would have been about $500 (still expensive, but not $4000). Why must the client go through hoops to have the $4000 reduced? I understand why overages exist -- but look what the costs would have been had the proper features been added. It's not like the carrier lost any money by reducing the charges -- simply the profit was reduced down to a "what should have been" level.

[cellphonejunky]

Agreed!

Sent from my SGH-I957R using HowardForums

[TheLastPrincess]

I am very well aware of the amount of "PR Gestures" certain companies offer. However, this "fake" money doesn't really "cost" the carriers anything. Just lost potential revenues (hence why the departments are called Revenue Assurance).

I had a client billed with $4000 in EU roaming charges -- client was mis-qualified with the wrong features. Had they had the proper features, total roaming costs would have been about $500 (still expensive, but not $4000). Why must the client go through hoops to have the $4000 reduced? I understand why overages exist -- but look what the costs would have been had the proper features been added. It's not like the carrier lost any money by reducing the charges -- simply the profit was reduced down to a "what should have been" level.

I agree roaming costs are very high. I'm talking about people who don't add anything, go across Europe and Asia with their tablet for two weeks run up a $40,000 bill and refuse to even pay for the right sizing that brings their bill down to less than $1,000.

[z24gta]

The unlock policy that you're not a fan of, only applies to the iPhone. All other phones are unlockable at 30 days. This is being re-reviewed soon.
PPU data on all current plans is based on a tiered model. Only older plans, just like with the competition, have the old $51.20 / MB policy.
ECF / DECF policy will be revamped this year (from what I'm told).

A lot of other things on Bell have chnaged for the better though. Until recent, Rogers was still charging GRRF. Bells customer service is light years ahead of Rogers on the Mobility side. The website and access to information on Bell is better to.

Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages, but to unilaterally say one is better than the other would not be a fair statement at this time.

Bell has a better HSPA network then Rogers, but in no way is there customer service better.

[B407]

This is great for short trips. Will definitely be taking advantage of this now.