Rogers will charge a fee on people using older networks starting next month

Rogers and Fido will start charging customers who exclusively use the company’s 2G and 3G networks a $3 fee in May.

Customers started receiving emails from Rogers and Fido about the incoming fee last week. 

The emails warned users if their phone number used 3G. The company also updated support pages about the upcoming 3G network retirement with information about the new fee.

According to the support document, the company will start assessing customers’ network usage in May. Those who exclusively use 2G and 3G networks will be charged the $3 ‘Legacy Network Usage’ fee on their monthly bill.

“This is used to recover part of the cost of maintaining our legacy systems. This charge will apply monthly as long as your usage is on our 2G and 3G networks,” reads the support document.

Additionally, the document says people can avoid the fee by using 4G and 5G instead. For some, that will mean upgrading their phone to one that’s compatible with Rogers’ 4G or 5G networks. Rogers says that there are no-cost upgrade options available and that once people upgrade, it will remove the $3 fee.

Customers raise concerns about fee

Several Fido customers took to social media to complain about the incoming fee. Some expressed frustration as they rely on 3G connectivity because Fido’s 4G service is poor in their area.

Others were upset because they had phones that they liked and didn’t want to upgrade, but those devices weren’t fully compatible with the Rogers network. Several people on Reddit noted they had OnePlus devices that support 4G and 5G, but they still received the email about the 3G fee.

The crux of the issue seems to be Voice over LTE (VoLTE) support. VoLTE allows people to place calls over 4G LTE, and when Rogers shutters its 3G network later this year, devices will need VoLTE to continue working on the Rogers network.

However, some users report that they have VoLTE-capable devices but can’t use VoLTE with Rogers’ network because the company hasn’t deemed the devices compatible. This primarily appears to impact phones not sold by Rogers, such as OnePlus devices.

Several customers threatened to file complaints with the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) over the fee, while others discussed leaving Fido for another provider.

Unfortunately, Rogers and Fido aren’t the only providers charging customers for using 3G. Last year, Telus-owned Koodo started charging customers $3 if they use a device that still uses 3G for voice calls or data. At the time, Koodo said only 2.3 per cent of customers used the legacy network.

Rogers will retire its 3G network on July 31, 2025.