Ruined iPhone

Today, as Rogers Wireless launches the coveted Apple iPhone, Canadian consumers and politicians will be blitzing the Internet to protest unfair wireless phone contracts.

A Toronto-based Internet marketing company that's spearheaded an online campaign urging customers not to buy the 3G phone is holding a live Webcast at 10 a.m. on July 11.

The Webcast will conclude with the delivery of a hard copy of Oilchange.com's RuinediPhone petition to Rogers. The petition, so far, has garnered more than 60,000 signatures online.

Today, as Rogers Wireless launches the coveted Apple iPhone, Canadian consumers and politicians will be blitzing the Internet to protest unfair wireless phone contracts.

A Toronto-based Internet marketing company that's spearheaded an online campaign urging customers not to buy the 3G phone is holding a live Webcast at 10 a.m. on July 11.

The Webcast will conclude with the delivery of a hard copy of Oilchange.com's RuinediPhone petition to Rogers. The petition, so far, has garnered more than 60,000 signatures online.

Liberal MP David McGuinty (Ottawa South) talks about his "Get Connected Fairly" act.

"We're going to invite Rogers to participate and make a comment to people who are very angry about the pricing," says Jamie Lynch, vice-president and co-founder of Oilchange.com. "People here are fed up at being overcharged."

Rogers did respond partially to consumer clamour for a better data plan, by offering those who activate an iPhone before the end of August the opton to add 6 GB plan to any voice package for $30 a month.

"We heard a lot from our customers, they were very enthusiastic about the iPhone," says Rogers' spokesperson Elizabeth Hamilton. "They were very knowledgeable about how much data they need."

It's unlikely Rogers will accept the invitation to participate in today's Webcast organized by Oilchange.com.

"We generally don't respond to petitions or polls," Hamilton says.

But at least one high-profile politician, Liberal MP David McGuinty -- brother of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty -- will be participating in the Webcast.

The Liberal environment critic says Rogers is using the iPhone as bait to lure Canadians into unfair contracts.

He said Rogers' promotional price cut on its controversial iPhone plan "is very temporary and dubbed it a PR measure.

"I want a long-term solution to this problem."

Many Canadian consumers are outraged that Rogers is charging more for its iPhone data plans compared with providers in the U.S. and the U.K.

Oilchange.com experienced first-hand, the difference between Canadian and American wireless plans.