Alongside the 3G network shutdown, Rogers has also delisted its forums page, which will make getting specific help a little harder in the future. This also applies to Fido.
In a statement to MobileSyrup, the carrier says there has been a “dramatic decrease” in forum use over the past few years. In 2024 alone, participation on that part of the site dropped 50 per cent. At this time, we’re unable to determine if any other factors, such as web design, may have also factored into this drop.
“As we continue to invest in digital tools and self-serve options that help our customers find what they’re looking for faster, we’re exploring alternative options given the dramatic decrease in participation on the forums. We’re committed to delivering the best customer experience and encourage customers looking for answers to use our self-serve support articles or chat with us,” said Rogers’ spokesperson Zac Carreiro.
What feels strange to me is how abruptly the carrier removed the webpages. There was a lot of valuable information on specific phones and different fixes for smartphone problems that are now gone. Rogers says it’s not related to the recent sale of its data centres, which was also announced today, but the carrier hasn’t confirmed where the forums were hosted or how big the database was.
Rogers has a new support AI tool that generates answers to your questions. However, as we’ve seen with other AI tools, there is likely a big chance it will get things wrong occasionally. In a brief test, I found it to be pretty solid, but it works best when you are as specific as possible. It also remains to be seen how well it will help people with new stuff, such as the iOS 26 and Android 16 updates.
Notably, the company has laid off a lot of its call centre staff this year and refused to confirm to us if other humans were replacing those jobs. Many of the laid-off workers told stories about having to train AI bots, leading to speculation that Rogers is trying to use more AI to interface with customers.
On the Fido side of things, the only way to talk to a real human is to schedule a callback, which you can only do after wading through a really annoying chatbot, whether you use the online chat tools or call the carrier’s support number. There’s an argument to be made that this system is good enough to catch some easy fixes and problems. But I do worry that if you were caught up in a fraud issue or something more serious, getting help would be a nightmare.
In other Rogers news today, the company is selling off a large chunk of its data centre portfolio. This is all part of the carrier’s plan to sell off its non-core assets to help repay its debts. It wasn’t shared how much this data centre sale made the carrier, but after a big year of buying into MLSE and building a mediocre new stadium, the company seems to be reeling financially. The latest earnings from the carrier were also down compared to previous years.
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