Rogers considering data priority plan for phones

(Updated with Rogers response) Canadian carrier Rogers is considering a plan that would let it charge extra to give quality 3G service in the event its cell towers are overloaded, Electronista readers have learned. The company is asking some customers how they would react to a feature, tentatively called the Data Priority Service, that would prioritize a subscriber's data packets over others for a monthly fee. It would help guarantee important or real-time data that would otherwise be choked off, the company said.

The plan isn't certain to appear at all and doesn't have definite details were it to come into being, although Rogers has floated charging up to $10 for the privilege, according to those who have been asked. Nothing has been mentioned of Bell, Telus or newcomers like Wind Mobile trying a similar move so far.

A strategy of the sort hasn't been tested in earnest in North America and could draw controversy. Cellular network congestion has been a mounting problem with the rise of the iPhone, Android and other smartphones, and carriers have complained about the cost of upgrading their networks to cope with the added demand. AT&T has been the most prominent example and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars adding capacity and extra nodes, especially in iPhone hotbeds like New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Critics, however, have attacked data priority plans for effectively punishing users who can't afford or are unwilling to pay to be placed ahead of others. Such strategies have also been chastised as attempts to delay necessary network upgrades in problem areas by letting those who would be most vocal about congestion pay for an "out" without addressing real issues for the wider user base. Rogers typically hasn't had network congestion near the level of AT&T.

Update: A Rogers spokesman has provided a statement reflecting the uncertainty of the proposal and that it won't necessarily be implemented.

"We don't comment on rumours, but I can say that at Rogers we always design our products and services with the customer in mind," he said. "As a result, we test many concepts and ideas with our customers. Sometimes we're actually considering launching these ideas, but often we're just testing concepts. Many of the ideas we test never get launched based on customer feedback."

By Electronista Staff