More information has emerged on Rogers' soon-to-launched UMA Service. We posted on it earlier this month, but details were few... we basically knew that it was in the works and that it could be soft launching sometime in May. Since making that initial post, more information has presented itself (multiple sources - thanks tipsters!), and there is now no doubt UMA will soon be a reality for Rogers customers. As best I can tell, here's where things stand as of now:
- The Service will be called Rogers Home Calling Zone
- It will initially be offered to Consumers, Not Corporate/Business Customers
- Launch date is currently targeted for May 6th
- Fido should be getting a similar service, around the same time
- Price: Rogers will charge for the WiFi/UMA access - $15/mo for local unlimited calling and $20/mo for unlimited long distance (within Canada) and "competitive" international long distance rates
- Device Availability: Likely to initially launch/be available on the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 and a lower-end Nokia phone
That's what I've got! If you login to your account at Rogers, you can actually sign up for UMA updates, and some of the info above is already fact (it's coming and pricing as listed above). We'll keep the other info under the "rumor" hat still, as I wouldn't be suprised if some of the details change/become more clear as time goes on. Add it all up and it spells spells good things for Rogers consumer customers.
And it can't come soon enough... I just paid my Rogers bill this weekend and was over on my data by 13 megs - $91 surcharge! I had to pay $151 for a measly 38 megs of data ($60/mo for 25 megs + $7/meg for each additional over the allowed amount). Apparently Rogers overage protection only applies to business customers, not consumer accounts and we're still waiting for the rumored reasonable tiered data plan to take effect (my thought is if/when those do launch they will be for corporate while consumers get UMA).
