Apple allegedly sanctioning Rogers for iPhone rates
After raising the ire of its customers with what are believed to be overly expensive iPhone 3G plans, Canadian provider Rogers Wireless is allegedly being punished by Apple with fewer shipments.
Blogger Daniel Smith claims multiple sources, including a senior Rogers representative, claim that Apple has diverted a significant amount of its initial iPhone 3G Canadian deliveries to Europe in retribution for the carrier's steep rate plans, which at similar prices offer a third fewer minutes and limited data compared to AT&T.
Stores may be getting just 10 to 20 iPhones each and are being told to "exercise caution" not to promise ample stock on launch day, according to the rumors.
At the same time, Rogers is also claimed to be promptly firing the part-time staff that had been hired to handle an expected deluge of customers at some stores.
With the story breaking on the weekend, neither Apple nor Rogers officials have commented on the allegations. However, the provider in recent days has faced a steadily mounting backlash against its planned rates with approximately 42,000 would-be iPhone buyers signing a highly-publicized petition for lower rates that they plan to deliver to Rogers in person.
Rogers itself has already made an about-face regarding some of its plans. A statement issued to the press clarified that customers will now be able to pick and choose from separate voice and data plans as well as to order extras such as caller ID a la carte rather than as part of mandatory $15 and $20 value packs.
A separate statement from Rogers has also alluded to "tweaking" data plan sizes, although it stops short of offering the unlimited data demanded by some of the company's critics.
While readers should take caution in accepting the rumor at face value, at least one other carrier has been forced to loosen its Internet access restrictions after facing similar criticism: TeliaSonera has been pushed into extending its Swedish iPhone plans with an unlimited data option after previously giving even its highest-end iPhone plan just 1GB of data per month.
Blogger Daniel Smith claims multiple sources, including a senior Rogers representative, claim that Apple has diverted a significant amount of its initial iPhone 3G Canadian deliveries to Europe in retribution for the carrier's steep rate plans, which at similar prices offer a third fewer minutes and limited data compared to AT&T.
Stores may be getting just 10 to 20 iPhones each and are being told to "exercise caution" not to promise ample stock on launch day, according to the rumors.
At the same time, Rogers is also claimed to be promptly firing the part-time staff that had been hired to handle an expected deluge of customers at some stores.
With the story breaking on the weekend, neither Apple nor Rogers officials have commented on the allegations. However, the provider in recent days has faced a steadily mounting backlash against its planned rates with approximately 42,000 would-be iPhone buyers signing a highly-publicized petition for lower rates that they plan to deliver to Rogers in person.
Rogers itself has already made an about-face regarding some of its plans. A statement issued to the press clarified that customers will now be able to pick and choose from separate voice and data plans as well as to order extras such as caller ID a la carte rather than as part of mandatory $15 and $20 value packs.
A separate statement from Rogers has also alluded to "tweaking" data plan sizes, although it stops short of offering the unlimited data demanded by some of the company's critics.
While readers should take caution in accepting the rumor at face value, at least one other carrier has been forced to loosen its Internet access restrictions after facing similar criticism: TeliaSonera has been pushed into extending its Swedish iPhone plans with an unlimited data option after previously giving even its highest-end iPhone plan just 1GB of data per month.
Comments
/Adrian
On the plus side, what's good for RIM is good for Canada :-)
(Unless of course your line of reasoning = Rogers gouges customers>Apple pulls units and funding for extra help>Rogers corporate pulls funding for extra help to Dealerships>Dealerships fire extra help. In that case, carry on
Daniel Smith
Smithereens Blog
If Apple made a contract with Rogers to sell the iPhone and unlimited data was important to Apple, then they would have put it in the contract. If that was true, then Rogers would be in violation of contract, and the "punishment" would be a lot more than this. Lawyers would already be involved because Rogers would have essentially already broken the contract.
If Apple didn't make a contract with Rogers that forced them to offer unlimited data (the most likely case), then Apple's "punishment" of Rogers for following standard business procedures and executing a valid, legal contract, is not only childish, but likely to get Apple into hot water for failing to hold up *its* end of the contract.
This whole thing sounds like a fantasy to me.
I'm no English teacher, but the first time I read the headline, I read it as "Apple approves of Rogers for iPhone plans".
Here's the definition of "sanction" from the OS X Dictionary:
sanction
noun
1 trade sanctions penalty, punishment, deterrent; punitive action, discipline, restriction; embargo, ban, prohibition, boycott. antonym reward.
2 the scheme has the sanction of the court authorization, consent, leave, permission, authority, warrant, license, dispensation, assent, acquiescence, agreement, approval, approbation, endorsement, accreditation, ratification, validation, blessing, imprimatur; informal go-ahead, OK, green light. antonym prohibition.
verb
1 the rally was sanctioned by the government authorize, permit, allow, warrant, accredit, license, endorse, approve, accept, back, support; informal OK. See note at approve . antonym prohibit.
2 the penalties available to sanction crime punish, discipline someone for.
The word "sanction" has a different meaning depending on how it is used in a sentence.
I'm no English teacher, but the first time I read the headline, I read it as "Apple approves of Rogers for iPhone plans".
Here's the definition of "sanction" from the OS X Dictionary:
sanction
noun
1 trade sanctions penalty, punishment, deterrent; punitive action, discipline, restriction; embargo, ban, prohibition, boycott. antonym reward.
2 the scheme has the sanction of the court authorization, consent, leave, permission, authority, warrant, license, dispensation, assent, acquiescence, agreement, approval, approbation, endorsement, accreditation, ratification, validation, blessing, imprimatur; informal go-ahead, OK, green light. antonym prohibition.
verb
1 the rally was sanctioned by the government authorize, permit, allow, warrant, accredit, license, endorse, approve, accept, back, support; informal OK. See note at approve . antonym prohibit.
2 the penalties available to sanction crime punish, discipline someone for.
@ct - lol That word is part of the exclusive club of English words which have synonyms that are antonyms of each other.
Other prestigious members include original (new and unique... or same old standard), and dust (to apply a dust to crops...or remove it from the mantle)
Who invented this darn language anyway?
Who invented this darn language anyway?
I don't know but I admire anyone who has learned it as a second language!
"A penalty, specified or in the form of moral pressure, that acts to ensure compliance or conformity."
The language is quite clear
I'm no English teacher, but the first time I read the headline, I read it as "Apple approves of Rogers for iPhone plans".
Then you read it wrong. The way it was used in this particular headline should not have been ambiguous to anyone who correctly understands the word. There is no possible way it could mean "approval" in this context.
No offense intended (honestly); I blame English, not you.
No offense intended (honestly); I blame English, not you.
None taken. As I mentioned, I'm not an English teacher. Actually, I teach Mathematics.
None taken. As I mentioned, I'm not an English teacher. Actually, I teach Mathematics.
I could use a mathematics lesson or two
iPhone will debut here in Japan this week! Funny thing is, ZERO news or ads. ZERO.
I think the iPhone sells itself -- no advertising necessary, at least at this point.
Except in Canada, where Rogers completely messed things up.
All these issues that have been brewing up since less than two weeks ago simply shows how companies/resellers are taking advantage of the guaranteed success of the iPhone. When the first iPhone was launched and ultimately jailbreaked, the units were selling here (in Malaysia) for astronomical prices. Most of the resellers themselves were as dumb as a lamp post - possessing about 1% knowledge of Apple products. Prices soared as high as USD1,200.
Then you read it wrong. The way it was used in this particular headline should not have been ambiguous to anyone who correctly understands the word. There is no possible way it could mean "approval" in this context.
No offense intended (honestly); I blame English, not you.
More than likely, Apple found out about Rogers' price plans, realized they weren't going to sell that many iPhones because of the phone plans, and diverted the shipment to Sweden or whereever. There are sellers markets and Canada isn't one of them.
that's what I'm thinking.
if they prove wrong, there's always the restock shipment. but why waste units on an area that might not sell them when you have folks already lining up in the US
Canucks deserve to be treated like iHumans
http://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/j...ives/1123.html
maybe apple sees this as an afront anticompetitive and went to the canadian agency. rim is the target, rim got to roger's first.
it's a rim ploy against apple.....now that makes more sense to me.