Rogers Wireless Inc.
 |
| Type |
Private (subsidiary of Rogers Communications) |
| Founded |
Toronto, Ontario (1983) |
| Headquarters |
Toronto, Ontario |
| Key people |
Robert Bruce - President |
| Industry |
Wireless Services |
| Products |
UMTS, HSDPA, EDGE, GPRS, GSM, BlackBerries, Wireless Data Services, Two way messaging |
| Revenue |
 $4.01 billion CAD |
| Owner(s) |
Rogers Communications |
| Employees |
5,287 (2004) |
| Website |
www.rogers.com/wireless |
Rogers Wireless, formerly known as Rogers AT&T Wireless, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. Rogers purchased Fido in November 2004, creating Canada's largest wireless carrier, surpassing Bell Mobility in subscriber volume, before Bell Mobility bought Virgin Mobile Canada on May 2009. Rogers Wireless operates Canada's only Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network.
History
Rogers began with an Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) network, and later moved to the IS-136 standard before finally introducing a GSM network in 2001 [1]. At various times the service was sold under the names Cantel, Cantel AT&T, Rogers Cantel AT&T, and Rogers AT&T Wireless. Their network is GSM standard with development currently focused on UMTS, HSDPA, and EUL service. Both the AMPS and IS-136 networks have been decommissioned; they were shut down on May 31, 2007.
Prior to the Rogers acquisition, the wireless business was known as Cantel Communications and Cantel AT&T.
In 2007, Rogers created a music festival in downtown Toronto, "The Rogers Picnic". The inaugural Rogers Picnic, created by Rogers Wireless was on July 29, 2007 and was held at the outdoor venue, Historic Fort York in Toronto. The second annual Rogers Picnic took place on July 20, 2008 at the same venue.
Mobile Devices
Rogers currently holds an exclusive agreement to sell and market the Apple iPhone in Canada. The inaugural launch was on the 11th of July, 2008. It also currently sells the BlackBerry Bold and the BlackBerry Curve 8900[2] exclusively in Canada. On June 2nd, 2009 the company launched the first Google Android-powered devices in Canada, the HTC Dream and the HTC Magic[3].
Services
Rogers offers the following services:
Rogers Wireless carries phones made by Apple Inc., Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, HTC, HP, ZTE, Firefly, Palm and RIM. A large majority of the Rogers' customer base uses its GSM/GPRS/EDGE network, but the primary focus for development and new customers has been on its UMTS/HSDPA/EUL network. Rogers Wireless claims to be the only Canadian Wireless Provider to offer a complete, independent coast-to-coast network spanning all Canadian regions excluding the Territories.
In February 2006 at the 3GSM Conference in Barcelona, Rogers announced that testing for their 3G/3.5G UMTS/HSDPA network would be complete by March 2006. The network was brought online for select markets on November 2, 2006.[4] UMTS/HSDPA is available in most major cities in Canada with further expansion in 2008.[5] So far, users are reporting performance in the 2-3 Mbit/s range on the HSDPA network, and 1 Mbit/s using UMTS. All Rogers Wireless HSDPA-enabled Node B's support up to 7.2 Mbit/s downlink speeds and are current to Ericcson/3GPP Release 5. EUL, also known as HSUPA, is expected to be in service by 3rd quarter 2008.
Rogers Wireless offers the following Wireless Business Applications to its customers: Mindit Assist, AskMeNow, Sales Anywhere, NewsClip, bbTV, FPinfomart Mobile, Connection Manager, eOffice
Criticism on rates
As one of the three main cellular providers of the Canadian market, and the only GSM in Canada, Rogers has been criticized for having high voice and data prices compared to other OECD markets.[6] These criticisms have become more pronounced with the Canadian launch of Apple's iPhone.[citation needed]
Rogers' announced pricing plans for the iPhone have been noted in print media both in Canada [7][8][9] and internationally[10][11], as well as online.[12][13][14] The online critics referenced above allege price gouging and monopolistic control of the industry, along with customer service oriented complaints. However, the majority of the current criticism is directed toward the monthly data limit for the iPhone device, given the availability of unlimited plans in the United States.[15] Rogers had introduced a "$30 for 6GB" data plan.[16][17], which was discontinued September 30, 2008.
On May 5, Rogers Wireless announced that they will charge 15 cents for incoming text messages to customers without a text messaging plan, starting on July 7, 2009.[18] The change will not affect the Fido Solutions brand. The change is similar to policies of charging for incoming text message that were adopted in August 2008 by Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility.
See also
References
External links
