I still have not received back a reply as to the upgrade schedule after my 20th. email to one of the many customer support email addresses they have ... :D

I'll set up a cron job and ping them one single email an hour to a different email address until they respond back with a definitive answer or until their mailboxes get full (whichever comes first).

I can't see why people are subjected to the same costs for digital packages when the packages provide different class of service. This is a possible litigation issue for me.

Yes, I have an option to switch to someone else, but the question is, why should I? It just allows the problem to persist. If a digital service is offered and the class of service is lower than in other areas (due to 600MHz vs 860MHz), then the pricing should be different. The pricing I'm basing it upon is the price of HD package divided by number of HD channels received. Since the rural areas only receive at most 5 HD channels, whereas others are receiving 33 channels (not including PPV channels, I think), this becomes a substantial difference.

Unless this is legal to do so, which I don't see why it is legal, to charge the same monthly price for crippled HD digital services, and the amount of people still paying for HDTV services, this becomes a possible litigation class-action case. I'm goint to inquire into this with a lawyer-friend, and she is looking into it to see if it has any merit.

Worse it can do is reduce the price for the HD crippled service for people who live in Greely, Navan, Cumberland, and Manotick ... :D

Its very similar to banks charging service charges and no one makes a fuss, until they get caught or challenged in court, and end up having to reimburse those charges.

I can't see why people are subjected to the same costs for digital packages when the packages provide different class of service. This is a possible litigation issue for me.

I don't believe there is any legislation that states that a contract for services has to be fair, unless you can prove you are being discriminated against for reasons of race, religion, gender, etc. The only real power you wield is in your wallet. If enough people cancel their Rogers accounts eventually someone there will get the message loud and clear.

I went through the same baloney with Rogers... begging for the service that I was told by the salesperson that I would have. When I asked the installer to show me how to use the On Demand features, he said I should call customer service. Then he couldn't get out of my house faster if it were on fire. I only found out after several phone calls that the reason I did not have all the features I was promised was because of the limited bandwidth in my area ( Greely ). This was never stated up-front when I ordered the service. I was shown Roger's On Demand and TMN On Demand in the store, but wasn't told that my service would not include these, nor several other digital stations.

Were that not bad enough, I was charged for equipment rental that my agreement clearly stated was no-charge. After several months calling the billing department to get the charges straight, I was told there was nothing they could do to correct the error because the "campaign code" that I ordered the service under was no longer valid. I pointed out that the campaign code was valid when I ordered the service, and it had been their error that caused the long delays in straightening it out. Once again they said "there's nothing we can do". My reply was "Well, there's something I can do!"

I disconnected their equipment, drove to the Rogers store and dumped it on the counter. I asked for immediate disconnection and told them I was switching to StarChoice. Within a few days an installer came to place a trap on the line so that I could not steal their TV signal while only paying for the internet. I was amazed at how fast and efficient they could be when it's to their interests.

If there were any other HS service available here, I would drop Rogers Internet as well.

Initial discussions only.

According to a family member (insurance trial lawyer), there might be some merit, but she would check with a class action lawyer first in the firm. However, what she said was that a class action lawsuit would benefit the lawyers more, of course. And, the people which is part of the class-action lawsuit, would split the leftovers.

But the most fundamental reason for the class-action lawsuit in the first place is to cause one of two things against Rogers (which incidentally made a ton of profit/monies) if the class-action lawsuit is successful.

Cause a change in the way Rogers programming packages are charged in areas where the class of service of said programming package is different. Therefore rural areas on 600MHz do not need to pay the same HD programming costs when they have crippled HD.
Cause Rogers to upgrade their older network to normalize the class of service so there is no lop-sided differences between areas served by the same digital programming packages.Anyways, will know more later.

Forget the lawyers. Just vote with your feet, and switch to ExpressVU. I would consider returning to Rogers if they upgrade my area (Cumberland). However, I am happy with the HD channels from Bell. Just get 4 more, including A&E HD.

Here is an snip from a communication with Rogers after I expressed concern about being told every 6 months that the lines will be upgraded shortly:

------------------------
In your recent email, you have informed us that you would like a date in regard to when your area will be upgraded to 860Mhz.

We first would like to take a moment to not only apologize for the misinformation you have received, but also to thank you for your patience in regard to it.

We have reviewed your account and, to be frank, see no engineering information in way of a date when the area will be rebuilt. To give you a date would not be ethical, as there is not one listed on your account.
We sincerely wish we could provide you with a definitive answer in regard to this. Again we do thank you for your patience.
------------------------

Good news, they came clean. Bad news, sympatico high speed has come to the town, so this could be the end of my relationship with rogers..... We shall see.

Ryan

Which area are you in, rjmarsha? Cumberland, Greely?

I would be interested to know your area too. It may help me out. I live in Cumberland, and was "told" my area would be upgraded in spring, 2005, then spring, 2006. Still has not happened. I believe there are a few places left at 600 Mhz, including Cumberland/Naven.

I believe that's what it's called. I am 5 km north west of Waterloo ontario in the town as Heidelberg or St. Clements.

I found a good person who told the truth. Good luck in your searches for one. I would like nothing better than to see other areas updated at least there would be some sign that this was moving forward, but I see no reason to believe that.

Ryan

I spoke with a Rogers maintenance employee last Friday and the message is always the same:
Rogers Ottawa keeps "begging" head office in Toronto to have EVERYONE at 860MHz. Lots of expensive houses are found in Cumberland (east) and Manotick (south). Which translates into $$$ for Rogers. No Rogers VoIP, no On-demand, etc. Rogers head office keeps saying: NOT at this time.

There are many town hall meetings and the question always pops-up: When is the network going to be completely re-built?
Funny thing is, at the next town hall in Ottawa, the guest attendee is Ted Rogers.

When and where is the meeting?

employees ONLY

I am making one last set of calls and email to Rogers on this one. Then I am going to get my cool dish that will of course just annoy me in other ways. 5 years I have waited to be able to watch what I feel I am paying for.

If anyone has new info I would appreciate it. I actually prefer the Rogers model to anything dish based, but I can only wait for proper HD for so long.

Thanks guys, I expect that I will not be the only one making this choice.

Ryan

Ryan,
Do the switch to the Dish since I'm very pessimistic Rogers will upgrade the network for rural customers, it's too expensive. It would be more cost effective to move channels 30-60 to the digital tier and allocate some bandwitdh to ROD, HD, timeshifting....
I'll let you know when Rogers upgrades everyone since I'm one who also is short-changed by Rogers.
Then, use the promo ditch the dish and get free digital box rentals as a new Rogers customer.

my parents are in owen sound....and after they ditched the dish and went to rogers i felt really bad because they dont get half the stuff i do. in london we get 35 or so HD channels, and when i was up there they get maybe 10, and no on demand services. obviously they are disappointed since they pay the same amount as i do basically but get service that isnt even close. i would have thought there would have been enough people in the Owen Sound area to justify it, but i guess if they are getting the revenue out by charging everyone the same amount but only providing half the service, what incentive does rogers have to upgrade?

...what incentive does rogers have to upgrade?
The incentive is that they have competition from BEV in most areas (unless you can't see the satellite). If I lived outside an area with significant HD, I'd probably be subscribed to BEV.

Well, I come back from a vacation in Florida, I encounter a surprise from Rogers. No, it's not a increase in my bill, well yes, but I'm not suprised by that.
Us, 600 Mhz bandwidth customers in Ottawa, now have 4 more HD channels:
HDCBC, HDLB, HDCTV and MORHD.

Way to go Rogers. :D

Go Sens Go (in HD)

Is there any news about the 860 Mhz upgrade?

I am coming to the end of a 2 year contract with Bell. If Rogers is still not prepared to treat us fairly, I guess I will stay with Bell.

I am looking at a home in Hammond, ON. Can anyone confirm if the service is 600 or 860? I am on hold with Rogers, and they can't seem to tell me...:confused:

Call back and try again. Hammond, ON is not listed in the www.rogers.com/channels/ listings I can see. The service rep should definitely be able to tell you if you are 860 MHz or 600 Mhz in Ontario. He/she probably cannot tell you when you are scheduled for upgrading.

Rogers is investing in ongoing upgrades of cable service in Ontario (600 -> 860 MHz); New Brunswick (updating rurals to "city" service, part of the $100+ million upgrades recently announced); and Newfoundland (tying the cable plant to the mainland via fibre optic link).

It wasn't long ago that Rogers announced "100% digital service" for virtually all subscribers. There have been ongoing upgrades of the network since the first cable subscriber was acquired; and certainly the past 5-7 years have seen leaps and bounds of improvements.

Nothing's perfect; and, perhaps, Hammond, ON is still outside of the happy zone.

But as Homer_j noted earlier in this thread, even for him progress happens when he least expected it. Upgrading to 860 MHz allows for a full slate of HD channels, all On Demand services, and the full offerings of high speed Internet and Home Phone (like free long distance to all Rogers phone customers, on the cable network or on cellphone across Canada).

Rogers is a relatively smart and savvy company. You can count on continued innovation as they have provided over a 30+ history. So check again. Even in the "boonies" 40km east of Ottawa ... don't be surprised if a red truck is in your neighbourhood soon. ;)

Aaarrgghh!!! This is NUTS! I was checking some HD channels in my limited HD channels (I'm in the Greely area in Ottawa), and the HDABC channel is gray!!! What happened? A few days ago, I saw 4-5 Rogers service trucks in the area. I still get HDTSN, HDCBC, HDCBS, HDGLB. My HDCTV has a lot of noise so its not usable since Day1. And HDABC is now conked out. I tell you, this really gets my goat.