Will I have one someday – oh probably. I am after all an IT pro, and need to eat the dog food so I can advise clients based on my own experience.

I’m not much of an ‘early adopter’ however. I’ve learned over the years to let other people with more time on their hands to be the beta testers (though still get bitten with issues – such is the case with XP SP3 – that take time to resolve – I’ll post on that separately).

So Rogers Wireless in Canada just announced their wireless plans for the iPhone yesterday – and given what we’ve endured (let’s not mince words and call it ‘data rape’) in Canada, the new plans are a giant leap in the right direction.

Today with Telus, I’m paying $25 for my basic voice plan (200 minutes, per-second billing, grandfathered Clearnet plan with voicemail & caller-id) + $10 unlimited incoming calls + $40 for an 8MB data plan. Add in the $8 ‘access’ fee at taxes, and I’m near $90/month – not counting overages on minutes or MB’s (and I’m nearly always close to 8MB just with my Exchange push email).

What can I get for $90 on the new plan? All that and way more – 100 minutes more voice, and (get this) 710MB MORE data per month, for a total of 750MB per month.

Seems like a step in the right direction (you mean I’d actually be able to do MORE than just email and not have to increase my service cost?). It’s still a bit out of line though – $15/20 ‘value packs’ for caller-id & voicemail (I don’t text) is ridiculous – especially when you consider I get those included with my existing $25 Telus/Clearnet voice plan.

OK Telus, your turn. This is an opportunity. Get the really cool HTC handsets, and put out a data plan that means something. I’ve been paying $90+ per month, but not for much longer if the the value equation doesn’t get a whole lot better. I want a better Windows Mobile handset than my Treo 700wx, and don’t want to have to monitor my usage.

Here’s 2 suggestions that will get people to sit up and take notice:

1. Per-second billing. You can do it – I’ve ALWAYS had this with Telus with my grandfathered Clearnet plan. There is NOT A SINGLE TECHNOLOGICAL REASON NOT TO DO IT.

2. Tethering.

Lastly, don’t bother to try and get me to sign any contracts. I’ll NEVER do that again. You are not the government. You get to EARN my business each and every month.

I love a parade.