Rogers begins relaxing cellular data limits

Rogers Wireless has begun expanding its historically restrictive data limits, according to a price sheet (PDF) for its services. While primarily affecting PC Cards, the plans are the first to allow multi-gigabyte usage per month for the Canadian provider depending on the level of service. A base $65 monthly plan provides just 1GB of data transfer over the course of one month but adapts automatically depending on usage: crossing the 1GB limit raises the fee to $75 but doubles the bandwidth to 2GB, Rogers says. Theis continues up to a $100 monthly plan that offers 5GB with each megabyte afterwards costing an additional 3 cents.

The plan can also apply to phone services and allows explicit tethering of a phone to a computer through Bluetooth or USB to share its Internet access. Whether the new flexible rates include 3G service on Rogers' network or 2G alone is uncertain.

Rogers' move reveals at least a partial change in attitude for the provider, which was criticized last year for charging as much as $295 a month for a data and phone plan with less features than a $60 data and phone hybrid plan from AT&T in the US. Bell Canada and Telus led price drops in November, with Bell in particular being the first to offer an unlimited data plan for a phone, which costs just $7 per month for owners of the network's HTC Touch smartphone. [via Howard Forums]

Filed under: industry
Other story tags: AT&T, Rogers, Telus, Bell Canada