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With the precedent the Galaxy Tab has set, it was an open question whether carriers would embrace the WiFi version of RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook — after all, it’s a little harder to fully monetize a data plan on a device that lacks its own cellular modem. Thing is, the WiFi version is the first one that’s going to be available; RIM hasn’t given much guidance yet on when the cellular version will follow on — and RIM doesn’t have much of a distribution channel outside its carrier partners. Well, Rogers has thrown its hat in the ring today at its TabLife event in Toronto, where it has been chatting up the success of the tablets it’s sold so far (the Tabs apparently won’t stay on shelves) and noting that it will be carrying both versions of the PlayBook as they become available. How’s that going to work from a data perspective? Well, a concurrent announcement out of Rogers seems to hold the answer. A pair of new so-called “data sharing plans” can be tacked onto your existing smartphone plan, effectively opening up your data bucket to other devices — so it’s basically like the tethering plans we’ve started to see sprout up on American networks under a different name. One oddity, though, is the CAD $20 (roughly $20) data sharing plan that allows unlimited social networking on “popular sites” above and beyond your normal bucket of gigabytes — sounds silly, but when we think about what percentage of our mobile time is spent on Twitter and Facebook, it might just be crazy enough to work. Follow the break for Rogers’ press release and a quick clip of Rogers exec John Boynton with the PlayBook mention. Continue reading Rogers adds ‘data sharing’ plans, will carry both WiFi and cellular versions of BlackBerry PlayBook Rogers adds ‘data sharing’ plans, will carry both WiFi and cellular versions of BlackBerry PlayBook originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink