Rogers rolls out ‘5G+’ branding, caps data speeds at 250Mbps or 1Gbps

Toronto-based national carrier Rogers made some updates to its ‘Infinite’ plans, adding new 5G+ branding and speed caps.

The Rogers website now lists the various ‘Infinite‘ plans as having “access to [the] 5G/5G+ network” (spotted by iPhone in Canada). However, it’s not immediately clear what 5G+ means in this case, although presumably, Rogers is referring to 3,500MHz spectrum the company started rolling out in June. MobileSyrup has reached out to Rogers for clarification.

Both Telus and Bell have added similar branding. Bell announced its 3,500MHz spectrum rollout under the 5G+ branding, while Telus has used the ‘+’ sign to differentiate between tiers of its ‘Unlimited 5G’ plans. In Telus’ case, the 5G+ branding doesn’t appear connected to 3,500MHz spectrum.

Rogers is also jumping on the speed cap bandwagon, locking its $85/mo ‘Infinite Essential’ 25GB plan to a maximum speed of 250Mbps, and its other Infinite plans to a maximum speed of 1Gbps. The ‘Infinite Lite’ plan for additional lines is also capped at 250Mbps.

Frankly, it’s surprising Rogers waited so long to do this. Telus added speed caps back in February, and Bell did the same in April. Even Rogers’ own flanker brand, Fido, beat it to the punch with speed caps in June.

MobileSyrup also asked Rogers why it made the switch to capping mobile speeds. This article will be updated with any additional details the carrier provides.

Speed caps are a frustrating new restriction on mobile customers

Speed caps mark a fairly significant shift for mobile data, which for years in Canada has been offered with restrictions on the amount of data customers could use each month, not how fast it was. Instead, data was served at effectively the fastest speed available based on network conditions and other factors.

Now, that’s flipping — at least, it is with the Big Three who offer “unlimited” plans. Rogers, Bell, and Telus all have plans that let people use as much data as they want, although the carriers throttle speed at a certain point. With the addition of speed caps, the carriers now restrict data speeds at all times and the restrictions still become more severe after a certain amount of use. That squeezes customers at both ends, and I don’t see mobile data moving entirely to a speed-based system like home internet, where most plans offer unlimited use with different tiers of speed.

The change is even more frustrating at the flanker brands, which still have hard caps on monthly usage as well as lower maximum speeds.

Sure, 1Gbps is likely more than fast enough for your mobile internet needs. Heck, 250Mbps is probably overkill for most people too. But that doesn’t change the fact that the Big Three all now offer plans with worse value than before, for the same price as before.