New Tethering Policy For Rogers and Fido

By on June 8th, 2009 31

Effective June 8, 2009, Rogers is including tethering on applicable handsets for customers on data plans of 1GB or higher until December 31, 2009.

You can take a look at the policy below:

tethering-policySo what does this mean for you and I?

New/Existing customers signing up on a 1GB or higher data plan on or after June 8, 2009 but before December 31, 2009

Well, this means that if you sign up on a data plan that includes atleast 1GB of data between the dates of June 8, 2009 and December 31, 2009, then you can tether all you want using the amount of data you have in your data option.

However, if you get a data plan that is less than 1GB, then presumably this means that either A.) You cannot tether or B.) You will be charged extra when using your device to tether. However, this will all depend on the method in which Rogers and Fido are tracking tethering data usage. The best indicator of this will be people who have 500MB data plans and tether and then to see whether they can even access the internet while tethering or if their bills are being charged extra/overage fees. Time will tell.

Existing customers already signed up on any data plan prior to June 8, 2009

As for all those people that already have data plans of all different sizes prior to June 8, 2009, you seem unaffected. That presumably means you can tether all you want using the amount of data you have in your data option and have no worries about extra charges. But again, time will tell.

After December 31, 2009?

Also, for those wondering what is happening after December 31, 2009…well, not so good news.

New/Existing customers signing up on any data plan after December 31, 2009

After December 31, 2009, you as a Rogers or Fido customer will have the option to subscribe to various tethering plans. This means that after December 31, 2009, somehow Rogers and Fido will make it either impossible for you to tether your mobile device without the add-on of one of these “tethering plans” or just charge you extra for any “tethering data” used.

Existing customers already signed up a 1GB or higher data plan on or after June 8, 2009 but before December 31, 2009

In this scenario, you seem be okay. As long as you have a 1GB or higher data plan that was setup between the two dates, you can tether all you want using the amount of data you have in your data option and have no worries about extra charges.

Existing customers already signed up on any data plan prior to June 8, 2009

As for all those people that already have data plans of all different sizes prior to June 8, 2009, you seem unaffected. That presumably means you can tether all you want using the amount of data you have in your data option and have no worries about extra charges. But again, time will tell.

Device Support

As for devices, currently this applies to all Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian devices that have tethering functionality but the tethering will only be enabled if the customer is subscribed to a data plan of 1GB or higher between the dates of June 8, 2009 and December 31, 2009.

As for Android devices, those are being excluded until further notice because “they do not offer tethering functionality at this time”.

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  • s

    “they do not offer tethering functionality at this time”.

    lol, not until we figure out how to root these.

  • s

    “they do not offer tethering functionality at this time”.

    lol, not until we figure out how to root these.

  • http://zooid.org/~vid?androidincanada davidm

    S, that doesn’t mean they have to officially acknowledge this capability. Why they wouldn’t is anybody’s guess, but they’re a corporation. Then again, they did use “revolution” and “open” in their advertising.

    http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f41/anyone-root-the-g1-up-in-canada-on-rogers-yet-18774/

    http://wiki.zooid.org/wiki/Rogers_Android_Problems_and_Solutions#Using_different_ROM_versions

  • http://zooid.org/~vid?androidincanada davidm

    S, that doesn’t mean they have to officially acknowledge this capability. Why they wouldn’t is anybody’s guess, but they’re a corporation. Then again, they did use “revolution” and “open” in their advertising.

    http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f41/anyone-root-the-g1-up-in-canada-on-rogers-yet-18774/

    http://wiki.zooid.org/wiki/Rogers_Android_Problems_and_Solutions#Using_different_ROM_versions

  • Rod

    Can you provide a link so that we can read this new policy?

    Thanks

  • Rod

    Can you provide a link so that we can read this new policy?

    Thanks

  • http://zooid.org/~vid?androidincanada davidm

    Any follow up on this?

    1. no official confirmation we can use the tethering option (when we can tether, see #3)

    2. no access to paid apps (eg SnapPhoto. neccessary to help with the miserable camera)

    3. nothing solid on rooting our phones, which is essential for an “open” handset.

    I’m a bit worried that with the iPhone hype, we can get left out. Though I think Android is going to be a main contender in the long run, I don’t think a lot of people got Androids in the opening days, and its hard to know how their current campaign aimed at hip young adults is working out.

    • s

      haykuro is working on the root thing… read xda-developers forums. he has the piece of code that is causing the problem, so really it’s only a matter of time (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=523873). It has to do w/ the rogers radio being different than the G1′s on t-mobile. once we root we can tether, do whatever we want. it’s not impossible. Maybe if you donate some money for a nesquik it could be done even faster :)

      in terms of paid apps, I don’t want to support piracy or anything, but without access to the paid apps what choice do we have? if you search around this internet thing you can find apk files for all android apps and install them using astro, appsinstaller, etc.

      I’m running quite a few paid apps on my phone thanks to this, when we have access I will be buying the ones I like and use regularly.

  • http://zooid.org/~vid?androidincanada davidm

    Any follow up on this?

    1. no official confirmation we can use the tethering option (when we can tether, see #3)

    2. no access to paid apps (eg SnapPhoto. neccessary to help with the miserable camera)

    3. nothing solid on rooting our phones, which is essential for an “open” handset.

    I’m a bit worried that with the iPhone hype, we can get left out. Though I think Android is going to be a main contender in the long run, I don’t think a lot of people got Androids in the opening days, and its hard to know how their current campaign aimed at hip young adults is working out.

    • s

      haykuro is working on the root thing… read xda-developers forums. he has the piece of code that is causing the problem, so really it’s only a matter of time (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=523873). It has to do w/ the rogers radio being different than the G1′s on t-mobile. once we root we can tether, do whatever we want. it’s not impossible. Maybe if you donate some money for a nesquik it could be done even faster :)

      in terms of paid apps, I don’t want to support piracy or anything, but without access to the paid apps what choice do we have? if you search around this internet thing you can find apk files for all android apps and install them using astro, appsinstaller, etc.

      I’m running quite a few paid apps on my phone thanks to this, when we have access I will be buying the ones I like and use regularly.

  • http://wiki.zooid.org/wiki/Category:Android davidm

    I am aware of the root efforts going on, and am tracking them at http://wiki.zooid.org/wiki/Rogers_Android_Problems_and_Solutions#Using_different_ROM_versions (don’t worry, it’s not an advertising trap).

    However, I have no desire to live in a grey zone of legality and support. I hope the tethering issue can be clearly resolved soon, and fairly with regards to the iPhone.

  • http://wiki.zooid.org/wiki/Category:Android davidm

    I am aware of the root efforts going on, and am tracking them at http://wiki.zooid.org/wiki/Rogers_Android_Problems_and_Solutions#Using_different_ROM_versions (don’t worry, it’s not an advertising trap).

    However, I have no desire to live in a grey zone of legality and support. I hope the tethering issue can be clearly resolved soon, and fairly with regards to the iPhone.

  • kevin

    Yeah I returned my Magic because of this. Rogers doesn’t seem to be backing Android much and as much as I love Android I really don’t want to be left in the dust.

    I’ll be getting the new iPhone and use that until i’m eligible for upgrade and hopefully by then Android will be awesome because I do like a lot about Android.

  • kevin

    Yeah I returned my Magic because of this. Rogers doesn’t seem to be backing Android much and as much as I love Android I really don’t want to be left in the dust.

    I’ll be getting the new iPhone and use that until i’m eligible for upgrade and hopefully by then Android will be awesome because I do like a lot about Android.

  • http://wiki.zooid.org/wiki/Category:Android davidm

    kevin, I know where you’re coming from, but as long as we can tether, I’m good with Android. It is an early adopter’s gamble, and the Dream in particular is known to have some deficits (apparently the Magic’s battery life is much better), and iPhone is certainly a behemoth, and with the recent buzz over the iPhone/Pre Android is hardly mentioned any more, though that will change when Samsung’s AMOLED phone comes out. Anyway I don’t play games and that’s the main focus of iPhone currently (though now that iPhone has a compass it’ll be able to do Android tricks).

    There’s another round of Android contest coming up, will be interesting to see what comes out, the first round had a great focus.

  • http://wiki.zooid.org/wiki/Category:Android davidm

    kevin, I know where you’re coming from, but as long as we can tether, I’m good with Android. It is an early adopter’s gamble, and the Dream in particular is known to have some deficits (apparently the Magic’s battery life is much better), and iPhone is certainly a behemoth, and with the recent buzz over the iPhone/Pre Android is hardly mentioned any more, though that will change when Samsung’s AMOLED phone comes out. Anyway I don’t play games and that’s the main focus of iPhone currently (though now that iPhone has a compass it’ll be able to do Android tricks).

    There’s another round of Android contest coming up, will be interesting to see what comes out, the first round had a great focus.

  • Kevin

    This is true. We’ll see. I can always get it back again. I want to see how the iPhone 3GS performs first.

    I actually never thought of using downloaded version of the .apk files, its a good solution until Rogers fully supports paid apps.

  • Kevin

    This is true. We’ll see. I can always get it back again. I want to see how the iPhone 3GS performs first.

    I actually never thought of using downloaded version of the .apk files, its a good solution until Rogers fully supports paid apps.

  • cj

    I’m trying to decide if I should sign up for the 6g plan. I’ll on the no-term 1 G plan now and am hesitant to give Rogers any more chances to “own” my wireless life for three more years.

    **How can I determine how much data my Rogers HTC Dream has downloaded?** – in this first week I’ve used it (heavily!). Once tethering works this will be crucial to know.

    A few times I caught myself happily browsing away having walked too far from my Wifi and unknowingly gone onto 3G!

    • s

      there are numerous apps for this, I personally use netsentry. I stream last.fm all the time and I still have a tough time even hitting 1GB.

  • cj

    I’m trying to decide if I should sign up for the 6g plan. I’ll on the no-term 1 G plan now and am hesitant to give Rogers any more chances to “own” my wireless life for three more years.

    **How can I determine how much data my Rogers HTC Dream has downloaded?** – in this first week I’ve used it (heavily!). Once tethering works this will be crucial to know.

    A few times I caught myself happily browsing away having walked too far from my Wifi and unknowingly gone onto 3G!

    • s

      there are numerous apps for this, I personally use netsentry. I stream last.fm all the time and I still have a tough time even hitting 1GB.

  • shawn

    what are the most popular tethering programs for the android without “unlocking the root”.

  • shawn

    what are the most popular tethering programs for the android without “unlocking the root”.

  • Drallcome

    Well at least the rooting got sorted out, nice to get paid apps and get rid of the Rogers icons and such, but we are still SOL on the tethering and custom ROM's. I even caved and tried out PdaNet and even that doesn't work…maybe it doesn't work with rooted phones or it doesn't like windows seven. Either way it's been almost a month and a half and I still have yet to tether on my Dream. Rather disappointed at the moment.

  • adp

    I am using my HTC Dream Android Phone for tethering on my Rogers 6gB/month plan…no problems whatsoever…working great. I did have to buy a third party Android tethering package…but hey, it works flawlessly.

  • ajl

    Tethering on HTC Dream works flawlessly with PdaNet. Just bought the Dream this week with version 1.5 which seems to have fixed a number of issues.

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  • Gummy

    I know this is kind of late, but I was in a Rogers store today to confirm this, and the understanding there is that tethering will only be available until dec 31, not that plans signed up for before dec31 will include tethering free. Maybe I'm misinterpreting this post, but the employee I spoke with expected a tethering option to be made available for plans, similar to voice mail or call display options.

    Personally I'm really on the fence and don't want to commit for three years on the hope that the future fees that Rogers chooses to charge aren't outrageous.

  • Gummy

    I know this is kind of late, but I was in a Rogers store today to confirm this, and the understanding there is that tethering will only be available until dec 31, not that plans signed up for before dec31 will include tethering free. Maybe I'm misinterpreting this post, but the employee I spoke with expected a tethering option to be made available for plans, similar to voice mail or call display options.

    Personally I'm really on the fence and don't want to commit for three years on the hope that the future fees that Rogers chooses to charge aren't outrageous.

  • Gummy

    I know this is kind of late, but I was in a Rogers store today to confirm this, and the understanding there is that tethering will only be available until dec 31, not that plans signed up for before dec31 will include tethering free. Maybe I'm misinterpreting this post, but the employee I spoke with expected a tethering option to be made available for plans, similar to voice mail or call display options.

    Personally I'm really on the fence and don't want to commit for three years on the hope that the future fees that Rogers chooses to charge aren't outrageous.