Will Bell Offer 6 GB for $30/mo. & iPad Sharing for $10 More?

I'm not one to typically report on rumours, speculation, and "leaked" information. Because of this, I will refrain from linking to the articles in question that discuss this topic (it won't take a rocket scientist to find them anyway.) But there are rumblings that Bell will revive an old Roger's iPhone plan, which affords 6 GB of data for $30/mo., just in time for the iPhone 4 launch in Canada tomorrow. Even more impressive than this, however, and something that has never been offered by Rogers (or any other Canadian carrier, for that matter) will be the ability to share that bucket of megabytes with a iPad for an additional $10/mo.

Keep in mind that this option has not been officially confirmed by Bell. But if it does come to fruition, it will undoubtedly be the most attractive data option available in Canada. And chances are it will only be offered for a limited time.

I signed up for Rogers' 6 GB plan when it went on promotion after the iPhone launch two years ago. I still enjoy that plan today. And while I have never come even remotely close to using the full 6 GB, I don't mind paying $30/mo. for peace-of-mind that I will never go over, versus paying less money for 500 MB-to-1 GB, but having to worry about the $0.05/MB overage fees, leading to bill shock at the end of the month. What's more, opting for such a hefty plans helps to future-proof a customer for additional potentially data-intensive mobile applications in the future.

If Bell does indeed bring this plan to light, I would be very surprised if Rogers doesn't follow suit and re-launch the option for its customers as well. And Telus? It's quite possible we could see something as equally competitive from that firm. (Note that none of the new carriers offer the iPhone nor the iPad; they operate on the AWS band, with which the iPhone, in its current design, is not compatible.)

Aside from the ample number of megabytes, though, it's the supposed iPad sharing option that really catches my attention. For $40/mo., customers would essentially get Internet both on-the-go and at home. And unless you're a heavy P2P user, 6 GB should be more than enough to satisfy your needs. Since having the iPad, I have rarely popped open my laptop at home. In fact, the only time I do is when I want to view a Flash-based video; the one limitation of the iPad; or work offline on documents or spreadsheets. If I could share 3G data between my phone and my iPad, this could effectively negate the need for a broadband Internet connection at home. Then again, when you're looking at large families where everyone tends to hog the computer time, spending $40/mo. for each person might not be worth it.

And herein lies the issue, which has surfaced on the home phone side as well. On that end, the question is: if wireless becomes really affordable, and people start cutting the cords to their home phone lines, how much revenue will companies like Bell and Rogers lose? Indeed, we've already seen landline phone lines dropping consistently as mobile is on the rise. And initiatives like Rogers' Home Phone are attempting to breathe new life into that category. So with 3G connections potentially becoming a de facto standard for Internet at home, what happens to the companies' high-speed wireline offerings?

However, consider that often times at home, I'll switch to my WiFi connection because it's faster. This isn't, of course, always the case. But having the option to toggle between WiFi and 3G, then use the faster of the two networks when doing something like watching videos or downloading content, is a useful one.

It's an interesting debate, and one that carriers have likely been racking their brains about over the past few years. On the one hand, holding on to an "old" type of technology to prevent customers from moving too quickly to a new one won't help anyone. But on the other, you need to make sure you can sustain your business fully on this new method before even partially divesting yourself of the old. Wireless and connectivity is a risky business. Companies like Bell, Rogers, and Telus must essentially cannibalize themselves. But as long as consumers have options, and have reliable and affordable options at that, everyone wins.

*UPDATE: Bell has confirmed these plans, and they are now officially available to customers!