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With less than 24 hours to go before the iPhone makes its long-awaited Canadian debut the question for many potential Apple converts is: how much is this thing going to cost me?

Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. has spent the better part of two weeks educating customers about its iPhone rate plans, which range anywhere from about $60 per month to $115 for their "Value Packs". Customers who don't like those plans can choose from any of Rogers other à-la carte options to build their own customized package.

Confusion over cellphone plans isn't a phenomenon that is unique to the iPhone. Canadians frequently complain about the complexity of cellphone packages offered by major carriers and often wonder whether the great deals being offered by their provider are all they're cracked up to be.

• Got a question about rate plans? Join the Conversation Friday with Jamie Chadwick who'll be online at 1 p.m. for a live chat. You can submit a question in advance here.

That confusion is what drove Jamie Chadwick to start Save Cell Communications, a Toronto-based company that examines cellphone bills in an effort to make sure consumers aren't paying more for cellular service than they should be.

He calls it "cellular optimization."

"A lot of people are really unhappy with their cellular phone providers and feel like they're getting hosed on how much they're spending each month and that they're not getting the right advice," he said.

A veteran of the advertising world, Mr. Chadwick was constantly being slapped with hefty cellphone bills due to all the travelling he was doing. His carrier wasn't much help and no matter what plan they signed him up for, the bills kept going up.

"It came to me that there was no person or no business who could tell me what I should be doing and what the best way to go about using my cellphone was," he said. "In every industry there are consultants who are there to guide you and tell you what you should and shouldn't be doing. But when it came to cellphones there was nobody like that and the only information you could get was from the providers themselves."

To determine what plan is right for a customer, Save Cell analyzes that user's cellphone bills to determine how they use their phone and what charges they're paying. They look at when a user makes the majority of their calls, how much data they use surfing the web and sending text messages and how many minutes they burn through chatting every month.

That information is then fed into a software program that took Mr. Chadwick two years to design, which compares that user's usage patterns with every possible combination of cellphone plans offered by every Canadian provider.

Save Cell charges nothing for the consultation, but instead takes a slice of what it saves its customers — users can choose to pay the full savings Save Cell's new plan generates for them for three months, or 60 per cent of their savings over the first six months.

"It's a seriously tedious, time consuming task that most people don't want to do," he said.

Mr. Chadwick said that cellphone providers have lost the faith of many of their consumers, who constantly feel like they are being overcharged. Because Save Cell doesn't work for any one provider and can give customers the opportunity to look at a variety of plans from various carriers, it can give users honest and unbiased advice about the best options available to them.

"I think there's a large majority of users out there who don't trust their cellphone company," he said

THE PERFECT PLAN

So, you've decided to get an iPhone, but are not sure what you should sign up for.

We've come up with three composite sketches of possible customers and handed them over to Save Cell and asked them to suggest which plans would be best for our fictional customers.

Sarah, the teenager: All 17-year-old Sarah wanted for her birthday was an iPhone. All her friends have them, and she begged her parents to get her one. But after she racked up bill after expensive bill with her old cellphone, going over her allotted minutes and sending too many text messages during class, her parents want to keep her on a tight leash. She wants to use the iPhone to download and listen to the latest Jonas Brothers hits and might check and see what time Made of Honor is playing at the movie theatre. (She's going to need a good texting plan, daytime minutes and a limiting browser option.)

Save Cell recommends: Rogers $115 Value Pack

• Gives 800 daytime minutes per month (should cover her daytime usage since phone is used primarily during her lunch break)
• Unlimited evenings and weekends (that's when teens historically have the highest phone usage)
• Allows for 300 texts to be sent each month (all incoming texts for Sarah are free and no extra charge applies)
• Gives her 2GB of data. This is enough data to allow her to download albums each month and surf the net as she pleases. It will assure that she receives no overage charges and allow for a consistent monthly phone bill, which I am sure her parents will be pleased with)
• Unlimited use of Wi-Fi Hot Spots on the Rogers/Fido Network

Other devices for Sarah — Nokia N95

• $75 price plan w/ $20 value pack — Total = $95
• Plan gives Sarah 750 daytime minutes per month
• Unlimited evening and weekend minutes
• 2500 sent text messages each month
• 1000 Video and picture messages
• Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing
• Call and name display
• Enhanced Voicemail
• Mobile back-up and who called (in case she loses her phone)

Adam, the savvy consumer: Adam doesn't buy into the hype, but as a connected, modern guy he can't help but want an iPhone for its web-browsing and multimedia capabilities. He's read the blogs and the reviews and he knows what he's getting into with price plans. He plans on taking advantage of free WiFi whenever possible, including at home or at the coffee shop. But he might use the data plan from time to time during his commute to find a new restaurant to take his girlfriend to or pick up tickets to the drama festival. He'll also use it to download the full Kurt Cobain catalogue on iTunes. As his primary cellphone, he's going to need a good talk package, especially now that his boss has him travelling all over North America. But he doesn't want to pay more than he must. (He wants the least expensive plan possible, with a good, but not over the top data plan, and lots of talking time and roaming options.)

Save Cell recommends: Rogers $75 Value Pack plan w/ $60 roaming option & $10 Canadian LD Package - Total = $145

• Allows user 300 daytime minutes to use each month
• Unlimited evenings and weekends
• Roaming package will allow user to receive 120 minutes of usage each month while travelling throughout the U.S.
• Adam will now have 100 minutes to use anywhere within Canada at any time
• He will receive 750 MB of data each month. (This will allow Adam to use his data on his iPhone to download the music he would like and surf the net on a semi-frequent basis).
• Unlimited use of Wi-Fi Hot Spots on the Rogers/Fido Network (important to Adam)

Other devices for Adam — Blackberry Pearl

• $110 price plan w/ $30 Blackberry package — Total = $140
• Plan allows Adam to receive 450 minutes to use each month
• These minutes can be used anywhere in North America at any time. (Therefore he will not have to pay long distance and roaming charges as all calls placed within North America are billed as a local call).
• Adam has a data plan allowing for 300 MB of data each month (this will cover all Adam's data needs and then some)

Brad, the power user: A slick metrosexual from Toronto, Brad would like nothing more than for every treadmill in his gym to have an iPhone dock. His stuffy co-workers carry BlackBerrys, but not Brad. He wants to show everyone how cutting edge he is — reading the New York Times on the iPhone in the lunchroom, downloading the new Coldplay song in front of the cute secretary who says she's not heard it and buying movies through the iTunes store in the airport while he waits in the first-class lounge. He loves nothing more than plunking his iPhone on the bar Friday nights, just to see who notices. He's always talking on the phone, whether out shoe shopping with his bros or driving in his convertible Beemer. (Think of this as the deluxe plan. Money is no object, and since his self esteem is tied directly to the iPhone, he needs to be able to USE it).

Save Cell recommends: $150 price plan w/ $9 extra early evening and weekend option and $30 data plan — Total = $189

• Brad will receive 1650 daytime minutes to use each month (so he can talk as he chooses)
• He will also receive unlimited evenings and weekends as of 5 p.m. (so any calls after 5 p.m. are free of charge)
• His data plan will allow him to have 6GB of data each month (this means he can surf the internet and download songs and movies all day and not risk getting billed for overage).

Other devices for Brad — Blackberry Curve

• $150 price plan w/ $9 extra early evening and weekend option and $100 data plan — Total = $259
• Blackberry Curve is currently the "latest and greatest" aside from the iPhone and will satisfy Brad's need to have the best. (would recommend Blackberry Bold but its not out until July 25th)
• Brad will receive 1650 daytime minutes to use each month (so he can talk as he chooses)
• He will also receive unlimited evenings and weekends as of 5 p.m. (so any calls after 5 p.m. are free of charge)
• He will receive 6GB of data so he will be able to use the Internet for all his downloads.