Fido and Rogers go “Uno”
Fido and Rogers are bringing Wifi and GSM technologies together with UNO, a service plan and handset designed around creating “zones” for unlimited calling. The handset is designed to default to a wireless network while at home, so minutes aren’t used on the phone, and defaulting to a customer’s wireless plan while on the go. The wifi/GSM plan will also be available through Rogers, and will be an optional add-in to an existing plan, at $15 for unlimited local calls and $20 for unlimited local and long distance (from a wifi hot spot.)
With landline use shrinking and Canada’s wireless environment screaming for customer service and innovation, Uno could be a success…..but better still would be a plan that works with phones that are already wifi-enabled, like the Nokia N95 and Apple’s iPhone, both of which are set to debut soon on the Rogers network. The Uno plan will also require a special router, and really, couldn’t the same savings come from reduced wireless rates?
2 comments
Greg said on May 7, 2008 at 1:57 pm:
Fido’s site seems to indicate that regular wireless routers would work, but extolls the virtues of using their router.
Daniel Gibbons said on May 7, 2008 at 3:08 pm:
Let’s say the average “unlimited” user will burn through 1,000 minutes / month of wi-fi calling at home, and Fido’s average termination cost for those minutes is half a penny or less. Nice gross margin of 75%+ on that $20. And better still it’s just found money, since I’d guess the majority of the customers will be using their wireless phones at home when they otherwise would have used a land line.
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