Rogers introducing a new “Connection Fee” on July 10th

The best way that we can communicate this friendly charge/name change is to give it to you straight from the internal doc we received. The full details are below, but it’s an interesting strategy as they’ve abolished the dreaded activation and hardware upgrade fees – thus bundled in a new ‘connection fee’ with some added customer service perks. This move was most likely caused by the recent CRTC Wireless Code. At first it’ll be on a promo price ‘until further notice,’ then will increase.

“Beginning July 10th, new or existing Rogers customers activating or upgrading any wireless service with Rogers will be charged a $35 Connection Fee to activate the service on the Rogers Network. The Connection Fee will be charged to the customers invoice at the time of activation or upgrade. The $35 Activation Fee and the $35 Hardware Upgrade Administration Fee no longer apply.

At launch, the Connection Fee will be the same for new and existing customers, cannot be waived by agents, and will appear on applicable materials and contracts going forward. The Connection Fee will be introduced at a promotional rate of $15 for New Activations and Hardware Upgrades, and the promotional rate will be valid until further notice.

Why choose Rogers? As a Rogers customer you’ll benefit from:
– A free call to Rogers TechXpert service when you activate or upgrade to a new device
– The Smartphone Freedom Advantage
– A SIM card included with our new device (and if required upon upgrade)”

Again, this new ‘Connection Fee’ will start on July 10th. We’ll have more info soon.
(Thanks tipster!)