EXT coverage block

[wendybiscuit]

We have been blocked from extended coverage since we moved out of Rogers cell tower range. After some digging, we found that the policy states we will be given 24 hours notice. We live many hours away from the nearest service counter to switch carriers in person. When we received the initial 3 consecutive month warning, we phoned Rogers to inquire, there was no mention of being blocked with 24 hours notice. 30+ year customer. Thanks for leaving us completely and dangerously without service in a very rural area. We don't mind changing carriers, but at least give us a week's notice to receive the expedited sim in the mail from Telus, which often takes 5-10 business days??  

*Added Labels*

[RogersZia]

Good evening @wendybiscuit,

Welcome to the Rogers Community Forums!

I realize how inconvenient lack of service can be. Extended Coverage is intended for limited and occasional use. As such, the majority of your monthly usage must occur on the Rogers network. This is to ensure there is no unusually large burden on our networks or third party networks for which we have roaming or network sharing agreements (see ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY section xii) . 

I do appreciate the difficulties of being without service in a remote location and would be happy to forward this feedback to the appropriate team. 

RogersZia

[wendybiscuit]

Hi Zia, Thank you for reiterating what we heard from customer service. I’m not upset with changing providers, but 24 hours notice is inappropriate for rural customers like us, who need to travel long distances to switch over. Please forward this along to senior managers, I’d appreciate a response from them.

[RogersCorey]

Hello @wendybiscuit.

I am sorry if the final notice was too short for your needs. We will take your feedback into consideration.

With respect, you were given due warning at 3 months and we make it quite clear in our Extended Coverage policy that if the majority of your monthly usage occurs while connected to Extended Coverage, we may restrict or limit your access to Extended Coverage on an ongoing basis.

If you'd like to submit a formal complaint, you can do so via this link: https://www.rogers.com/contact/share-a-concern/

Regards,

RogersCorey

[Pauly]

If you live in an area with no rogers cell towers, then yes I agree you should find out what carrier services your area and request service from the new company.  I would personally not want to use Rogers EXT for extended periods knowing they have no coverage where I live

[Marko65]

In my case there is no Roger’s coverage in Blind river Ontario on highway 17 trans Canada highway - so maybe the problem is Roger’s not investing in a solid coverage area

[HRN]

I am having similar problems with  occasional use at my cottage. I was up for  three weeks for my holiday  in August and I got a notice I  would be blocked.  There is no Rogers coverage in my area so I have to go on Extended Coverage. I think I pay enough for my  cellphone  in the city  for Rogers to allow for extended coverage. If they are not willing to put in the infrastructure for rural customers then they need  to allow us to use Bell towers. Like others on this forum I am considering switching to Telus. This means I will  lose my bundle advantage in the city. This is very frustrating. 

[Pauly]

I am just curious, when people are outside of rogers coverage and on EXT network at the cottage or up north, do they continue to use their phone the same way as if they are on the rogers network or are they conservative and turn off data and make no calls and just do the occasional text and try to use Wi-Fi when ever possible?

I suspect peoples usage pattern might impact them being kicked off EXT network as well because lots of people I spoke to who use EXT network when going to the cottage never had this problem before? right?

[MartinH1]

We used our phones the same way for last 3 years. I've just been knocked of EXT. Time to change carriers for me

[HRN]

I live in  Toronto and the majority of my usage is not at the cottage, yet I have been kicked off Extended Coverage.

I have phoned several times and none of the people who answer  know anything about this. The last person I spoke to when he heard it was only cottage use that I shouldn't worry as cottage season  will soon be over. He said it was a computer generated text and there was really nobody to talk to about it. Well he was wrong because I was kicked off the  next weekend at the cottage . I will be changing carriers. 

[HRN]

Yes, the same thing has happened to me. Only cottage use at weekends and it hasn't been a problem before

[carlorobazza]

After a long conversation with Rogers yesterday, i found out it isn't a matter of data usagege, ect. It's the amount of time you are in the Ext coverage area. Even if you don't use the phone, but have it on and you are in Rogers-Ext, the clock is ticking.

Rogers needs to prove the actual business rules they've implemented for cutting us off because their generic description doesn't provide enough detail. For example, after I get the warning text, if I put my phone in airplane mode, does that count as not being in the extended coverage area, or do i have to go back to a rogers area? Also, i was told that it was the majority of time over a 4 month period. Is that a rolling 4 months? Is it based on billing cycles? 

Rogers needs to provide more info because their customer service rep just read to me from their web site.

[RogersYasmine]

Hey @carlorobazza,

You raise a lot of great questions and we'll do our best to explain how the Extended Coverage option works. Please note that the Extended Coverage policy is also outlined in the Rogers brochure, your wireless service agreement, as well as on rogers.com. If you find it is unclear, our apologies, I can submit that feedback moving forward.

Extended Coverage allows our customers access to our partners’ networks for talk, text and data services across Canada, outside of the Rogers network coverage area. Rogers/Fido worked with other carriers to establish guidelines around how Extended Coverage is to be used for all of our customers and that’s why there’s a limitation in place as to how much of the Extended Coverage you can use. Access to Extended Coverage areas is meant for occasional use only, and should not represent the majority of your usage for voice, data and/or text. We’re as excited about Extended Coverage as you are, but we still want to make sure you’re using the regular Rogers/Fido network most of the time.

On most devices, a customer will see ‘EXT’, TELUS, or a roaming indicator on their device screen when they are near the border or just outside the Rogers/Fido coverage area. On some occasions, devices will see the name of the actual domestic roaming partner (Bell, Telus, SaskTel, ICE).

Customers are considered to be “high usage” if they use Extended Coverage for 50% or more of their total talk, data or texting usage on one line.

For Regular Consumer accounts, after 3 consecutive months of high usage (based on their billing period), a text message is sent to the customer to remind them of our acceptable use policy.

After 4 consecutive months of high usage, customers are blocked from accessing Extended Coverage for a minimum of 90 days. Notification of the restriction is provided at least 24 hours before the restriction is applied.

Customers may be permanently blocked from access to Extended Coverage if they continue to be identified as high usage. Note: Usage incurred on the Extended Coverage network may take up to 90 days to appear on your invoice.

With that being said, to help avoid going over 50% of your usage while using Extended Coverage, you may want to consider using a Wi-Fi hotspot to access internet data at no charge, or turn data roaming off in your device settings to limit access to internet. You can also try to keep track of your usage by checking your device for the 'EXT' or roaming indicator that will appear on your device screen when using Extended Coverage. 

I believe going into Airplane/Flight mode should also disable Extended Coverage since it blocks your cellular services, but definitely check for the 'EXT' or roaming indicator to know for certain.

I hope this info is helpful!

RogersYasmine

[carlorobazza]

Thank you for your reply. That helps a bit. So, what I'm hearing is that, for example, if I'm going to be in Rogers-Ext for a long time, if I put my phone in aiplane mode for 13 hrs each day, I wont get the notification and I wont have to worry about being cut off?

Thanks,

Carlo

[RogersCorey]

As long as your total usage doesn't exceed 50% on EXT, you don't have to worry about it being cut off, @carlorobazza.

Regards,

RogersCorey

[Pauly]

Why not just turn off roaming and keep your phone on manual network selection so it always locks onto rogers network and does not try to roam on other providers networks

[Mtrott]

Firstly, why are the most recent comments at the bottom?

I have roaming off and was dinged for 90 days.

Rogers seems to have an arbitrary EXT service policy. It isn’t time in the area, nor data use. It seems to be if you use it on a regular basis.

I live 40 minutes outside Ottawa. My service, including mobile phone, is sketchy at best. Even if I’m driving into Ottawa.

I understand Rogers will not do more than the minimum required by law. But penalizing customers for Rogers poor service outside a city is just petty.

I’m not going to pay for a service Rogers decided to deny me.

Bye-bye

[Hmm]

@Mtrott 

I think this forum needs a major makeover with new software. It's terrible in my opinion. And their website typically has outdated and inaccurate/misleading info. 

The EXT policy is not so arbitrary, if you know how it works. I believe things changed several years ago. Now, the carriers are blocking access to their EXT network if you "don't belong there". What I mean by that is if  you (should) normally have coverage in the area you won't be able use EXT. In the past, I could manually force my phone to Rogers EXT if coverage is poor versus no coverage. 

The latter is key. If there is supposed to be coverage in your area then chances are high you'll be blocked.

If you got charged for roaming and your roaming was in fact turned off, then my guess is your phone was actually roaming, and voice calls use LTE and 3G data. Some devices allow you to disable this as well. 

[Mattreid13]

Is there a place to see how much ext service I am using per billing cycle so I can make sure I’m using at least 50% on a Rogers cell service. I work remotely all over the place and I can’t just wonder how much ext service and how much Rogers service I’m using. I’m assuming I can check on the app or something on how much and what towers I’m using then?

[decemberose]

They did this to me as well. Leaving me no choice but to change carriers

[carlorobazza]

I asked Rogers to see the numbers when I received the notification. They weren't able to show me. My understanding: Rogers receives notification from the external carrier that XYZ has spent too much time connected to their towers. Rogers then sends the 50% warning text. They don't have access to the external carrier's numbers, or that information isn't available to the front-line support.