Rogers makes changes to the Hardware Upgrade Program, intros new “FLEXtab”

Easy peasy, just like that Rogers decides to makes some changes to their upgrade process that will “give customers greater flexibility and choice.”

Here’s the deal. According to the internal doc we received it states that effective today, May 17th, the Device Savings Recovery Fee (DSRF) and Additional Device Savings Recovery Fee (ADSRF) are thankfully being renamed to “Rogers FLEXtab.” Rogers will now allow customers to pay off their FLEXtab balance at any time and is based on the same calculations as the previous upgrade process. Once your balance is paid off you can stay with your current device on a month-to-month plan, or decide to upgrade to a new device with a contract. Rogers notes that “FLEXtab applies to customers who have activated or upgraded as of January 22nd, 2012 (or June 30, 2010 for Quebec customers).” Here’s the calculation:

FlexTab Balance = (MTM Device Price – FlexTab Term Price) / (FlexTab Term Length in Months) X (Months Remaining In Term).

In addition, Rogers will be making adjustments to early upgrade program for existing customers. The reason is to align “more closely to a customer’s 3-year term and the discount received at the time of activation or last upgrade.” These changes also start today and as previously stated the upgrade fee is based on the type of device, multiplied by the number of months remaining on your contract. The good news is that some of the fee prices have slightly dropped:

– Voice and Quick Messaging devices and Smartphone Lite customers: $10/month
– MBB customers (eg. Tablets, Rocket Sticks and Rocket Hubs): $10/month (used to be $15/month)
– Smartphone customers (including premium smartphones): $13/month (used to be $15/month)

So there you have it. Both go into place today and Rogers also said that “Customers will now be able to upgrade as early as one month into their term.”

(Thanks tipster!)