Bell v Rogers with ‘unlimited’ smartphone
p2pnet news Mobiles | Advertising:- The Bell Canada decision to use the Samsung Instinct touch-screen mobile to grab control of the Canadian smartphone market might not be as productive as the companies undoubtedly hope.
The mobile is central to a Bell marketing plan designed to set it up against Rogers, which is suffering serious blow-back after having tried to sell deeply flawed and inflexible ‘Flexible Price’ mobile packages for the iPhone 3G range.
They come in at $60 for 400MB, rising to $115, “And none of them include unlimited use,” p2pnet posted.
Now Bell is planning to offer Instinct, “with the option of an unlimited data plan, upping the ante in its battle for the Canadian smartphone market,” says the CBC.
OK. So it’s wisely reading the writing on the wall. Isn’t that smart marketing?
It is, but for the fact Bell Canada is now a pariah in the eyes of a substantial portions of the Canadian buying public and anything it touches is consequently tarnished.
“Bell said Thursday it would offer the Samsung Instinct, which includes many of the features found on Apple Inc.’s iPhone, on Aug. 8,” says the story, going on:
“The phone would be available with a range of data and voice plans, including a $10 add-on data plan offering unlimited internet access. The announcement comes just eight days before Rogers Communications plans to launch the iPhone. Rogers is already taking heat from potential customers over data rate plans it announced for the iPhone.”
Indeed. It’s promoted the launch of two anti-Rogers online petitions, for instance.
Meanwhile, “Unlike the iPhone, the Instinct cannot access the internet through a Wi-Fi connection,” the CBC goes on, “but it has many features in common with the iPhone, including a touch-screen interface and HTML web browsing.”
Bell spokesperson Jason Laszlo of bandwidth throttling fame, “said the unlimited data plan includes web browsing, web-based e-mail and downloads” as well as “Other services”.
But under the Bell plan, Suamsung’s Instinct can’t be used as a tethered device to offer roaming access for laptops, says the story adding:
“Last year tethering was at the centre of a controversy for Bell Canada after a Calgary man got a bill of nearly $85,000 for using his phone plan to connect to a computer and surf the internet, which drew substantial additional charges. Bell later dropped the amount owing to $3,423.”
Fine. But how has Bell removed the gloss from the Instinct?
Bell Canada is central in a fierce and growing cross-Canada bandwidth throttling, net neutrality, battle between itself, its clients and smaller client ISPs and as the battle continues, its own services, and anything it touches, are becoming taboo, with all that implies.
It’s impossible to accurately gauge exactly how much effect the huge amount of ongoing negative publicity surrounding Bell Canada will have on it and products associated with it, but inevitably, it’ll be significant.
Stay tuned.
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.Stumble It!
serious blow-back – Online Canadians reject Rogers iPhone plan, July 2, 2008
p2pnet – Rogers Canadian iPhone rip-off, June 28, 2008
CBC – Bell to offer smartphone with unlimited data plan, July 3, 2008
bandwidth throttling fame – Bell Canada and the Lemming tale, May 15, 2008
bandwidth throttling, net neutrality, battle – p2pnet traffic shaping digest, April 19, 2008
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