The IT Nerd

Something that I never thought would drag on this long is the ongoing saga of Rogers and their inability to support the Apple Watch with LTE when the other members of the big three carriers, namely Telus and Bell do. Most of that frustration is being played out on Twitter:

@Rogers want to tell me why I’m contemplating moving to @Bell despite the horrible service I’ve had with them in the past? I’ll tell you – no Apple watch support and phone and watch need to be on the same network. How can a major carrier not be supporting it?

— MstrWolf (@MeanMrWolf) February 27, 2018

@Rogers What’s the latest for supporting the Apple Watch? We are 2 months through the year and all I keep seeing is how Rogers plan to support the Apple Watch. Need details or I will move to Bell mobility. @Bell

— Richardz3304 (@richardz3304) February 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/josh_simpson87/status/961058045483737088

@Rogers can’t support the @Apple #AppleWatch !! Embarrassed. So much for state of the art, and best in class. @TELUS and @Bell do!

— Jason Metcalfe (@jason_metcalfe) February 5, 2018

Bell and Telus support Apple Watch Series 3 cellular models–but what about @Rogers? It’s 2018 and I am still waiting for Rogers to show up!

— Madhu Pai, MD, PhD (@paimadhu) January 29, 2018

Rogers brags about its wireless infrastructure/equipment being the latest and greatest, yet can’t support e-sim/Apple Watch

— Jean-François Mezei (@jfmezei) January 25, 2018

And it seems that Rogers is still handing out its stock answer when quizzed about support for the Apple Watch With LTE. Here’s an example:

You can buy Apple Watch Series 3, both the cellular and non-cellular version and bring it to Rogers. You’ll be able to pair with a compatible iPhone using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, but not our LTE network.

— RogersHelps (@RogersHelps) January 24, 2018

And Bell is still looking to steal ticked off customers from Rogers, as I’ve written about here:

Hi Richard, we would truly love to discuss your options with you. Please feel free to DM us your best contact number. Thanks! 🙂 ^NH

— Bell Support (@Bell_Support) February 22, 2018

The thing is that since the day that the Apple Watch With LTE came out last fall, Rogers has spent a lot of time and effort trying to spin the lack of support for eSIM (which the Apple Watch With LTE requires) in some way that would keep their customers from bolting to Bell and Telus. The thing is that spin only works for so long. And based on comments made by the people inside Bell and Telus who speak to me on background, it’s stopped working for Rogers as they’re getting people coming across from Rogers for no other reason than they have Apple Watch With LTE support and Rogers doesn’t. That has to be not only worrisome for Rogers from a churn perspective, but embarrassing as well. Meanwhile, if you’re Bell and Telus, you’re laughing.

I guess it sucks to be Rogers.

UPDATE: The story continues here where I show examples of people, including yours truly leaving Rogers because of this.

This entry was posted on March 1, 2018 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Rogers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.