As the July 11th launch date for the iPhone in Canada approaches, there's a real groundswell brewing up here in Canada. The question is, will it be powerful enough to achieve the change Canadians are desperately seeking?


On Friday (June 27), Rogers, Canada's exclusive iPhone carrier, announced the voice and data plans for the iPhone. To put it mildly, they're expensive. And to add insult to injury, there is no unlimited data option. The plans are an obvious price gauge by the country's only GSM network provider. In fact, as I've been reading, these are among the world's most expensive iPhone plans. In addition, you have to commit for three years and there's no option to add a data plan for the iPhone to your current voice plan.
Sensing discontent, I visited Summize and searched for "iPhone Canada". Clearly, Canadians on Twitter were incensed at the plans. From Summize, I was pointed to a thread on the Mac Forums. Again, the 32-page thread was almost entirely negative. From the forums, I clicked over to a site called "fuckyourogers.com", which has since been redirected to ruinediphone.com.
Well, I've been tracking this site all weekend and I'm astounded by its results. The site was launched on Friday with this simple introduction:
"Everyone would like to say "NO THANKS" to Rogers/Fido for screwing our iPhone Canadian dream with poor data/voice plans. If you consider these plans not suitable, please sign this petition. On July 11th 2008, we will send a printed copy of all these messages to Rogers HQ to demonstrate our indignation toward them. We would like to say "Thank You, You" for signing this petition and helping the iPhone cause in Canada."
When I checked in on Friday, there were approximately 4,000 signatures. As of Monday morning, there were over 16,000 petitioners, the site had been submitted to Digg over 2,600 times, and both CNN Money and Reuters Canada have written about the story.
If you skim the petition, you not only get an idea of how angry people are, but about how much business Rogers will lose over this. A high proportion of the sentiment here is about how people who were going to buy the phone on July 11 will now turn away and look elsewhere. In some cases, people who were prepared to sign up their entire family, each with their own phone, aren't going to do so now.
Early reaction from Rogers has not been promising either. In a post on the Electronista blog, which is quoted in the CNN Money article, we're treated to this from an unnamed Rogers spokesperson: "Unlimited plans could end up costing customers more for what they don't use," the spokeswoman argues. "Our iPhone plans more than accommodate the vast majority of customers."
While leery about the anonymous source, the overall tone wouldn't surprise me after years of dealing with the company.
So how should Rogers handle this very loud and public protest? Well, for starters, they should at least acknowledge that they hear what's going on. The company can't possibly keep its head in the sand on this one and pretend that nothing is being said online. From there, they'll either stick to their guns and leave it for people to vote with their wallets, or use the remaining week and a bit before the launch to rethink their position and come out with better plans.
Stick to their guns and they'll come across as arrogant and greedy. Make a change and they'll look sympathetic and smart.
Will the groundswell create some change up here in Canada? Stay tuned.