Apple sanctions Rogers for iPhone rates?

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Blogger Daniel Smith claims that he has multiple sources who have confirmed to him that Apple will be shipping fewer iPhone 3G units to the Canadian provider Rogers Wireless. Smith says that Apple is upset with Rogers' expensive rate plans for the new iPhone 3G compared to AT&T, which has more minutes and unlimited data at cheaper rates.

Initially Rogers had hired more staff to meet the increased demand for iPhones in Canada; but because of the fewer shipments, it is rumored they have fired some of their new hires.

If Smith's sources are correct, Rogers will be getting just 10 to 20 iPhones for each of their stores in Canada. Apple also has told Rogers not to expect too much stock in the near future. Apple has diverted most of the Canadian stock to Europe, Smith claims.

One of the customers unhappy with Rogers phone rate plan has started a website called RuinediPhone.com and has accumulated more than 48,000 signatures so far.

Rogers Wireless Communication Director, Liz Hamilton responded to DigitalJournal.com editor in chief Christopher Hogg with the following statement:

iPhone 3G bundles released June 27 are not the ONLY price plans available to our customers. They are the high value plans that allow our customers to use this device to its fullest and offer considerable savings over separate voice and data plans that exist in market today. As always, our customers have many choices, they can use their existing voice and smartphone data plans if they wish, including for example, selecting from our new data pricing (ranging from $30 for 300MB to $100 for 6GB or $50 Flex Rate plan) and undoubtedly they would want to add a voice plan that suits their own needs, or they can choose a voice and data plan to best suit their individual needs. Customers do not need to take the value packs, and can order most other features a la carte, such as $7 for Caller ID.

With respect to existing customers, all customers’ accounts are unique. If desired, customers can keep their existing voice service plan and pick a separate data plan (not in the iPhone 3G bundle) to meet their needs. They will need to check their upgrade eligibility but any customer with a monthly service fee that is over $30 for example, can upgrade to an iPhone 3G at $199 (for the 8GB model). Other pricing may be available depending on the customer’s individual information.

Rogers, in other words, has yielded only slightly. It doesn't seem to be offering any benefits to many of their core or new customers who want to switch to them.

The iPhone 3G will be released this Friday in Canada. We will know by then whether this rumor is true or not. But Apple has done similar sanctioning with their Swedish carrier TeliaSonera and forced them to offer unlimited data options for the same price instead of just 1GB of data per month.