Rogers says tethering now included for some people

We Canadians have been pretty lucky with our data plans. It took a while, but telcos up here have been kind enough to let us tether our devices for free, so long as we have a large enough dataplan to handle the load.

We’ve been working on a post about dataplans, and I’m not ready to divulge our findings, but we’ve got a pretty good cross section of evidence, and we’re pretty sure most people could handle tethering their devices on their current dataplans.

I was pretty shocked to recieve a text message from Rogers saying that starting on May 4th, 2010 tethering will be included in plans “on eligible devices.” I’ve spent the last twenty minutes trying to get their website to load, but it seems like the rest of Canadians may also be trying to figure out what Rogers has in store for us.

The timing of the announcement is a little suspect. Canadians have yet to hear any details regarding iPad dataplans. The Rogers website makes no mention of iPads, or if they’ll support tethering on the device.

If you’re not aware, Rogers was the first to carry the iPhone in Canada. Since then, other companies such as Telus, Bell, and Fido have all gained access to the iPhone, but don’t be fooled. Fido is a subsidiary of Rogers and rumours have been swirling for  years that Bell Canada could merge with Telus.