They’re not showing up on the carrier website, but Apple’s Canadian iPad page has the skinny on the iPad data plans from Rogers Wireless. First and foremost, anyone who currently has a data plan from Rogers will be able to have their iPad draw from their existing data bucket for $20. To us this seems like nothing more than Rogers getting money for old rope, but we’ll leave our typical Canadian carrier data rants for another day. Moving down in price, but offering a clearly defined and finite amount of data, is the $15 plan which will afford customers 250MB of data. When factoring in the prevalence of Wi-Fi hotspots and the fact most people are either going to be using their iPad at home, work, or school, this is really the ideal plan for the majority of future iPad 3G owners. Finally, we have the top-tier plan…one which we’re sure is going to produce elation and outrage. Unlike AT&T, Rogers will not offer an unlimited data plan for $29.99, instead, it will allow customers 5GB for $35. As we’ve said countless times before, the idea of “unlimited” 3G data is nice, but we have a hard time imagining anyone coming close to consuming 5GB of data through normal use. If there’s anything to complain about it’s the $5 premium Canadians are paying for what is essentially all you can eat data when compared to their American neighbors.
No word yet if these plans will be pre-paid or require a contract commitment, but we’ve reached out to Rogers for clarification.
UPDATE: Apple has removed all traces of the $20 plan from its website. According to Rogers PR, the $20 plan was a mistake on Apple’s part. Also, we’ve been able to confirm that the $15 and $35 plan are contract free and include unlimited access to all Rogers Wi-Fi Hotspots.
