The day has finally come: iPad’s much-anticipated Canadian launch.

If you’re like me, you’ll want to connect to 3G and use your iPad right away. That’s why we’ve worked hard to become one of the only carriers in the world certified by Apple to offer an innovative, on-device purchase flow. On other networks, activation could require a telephone call. But with Rogers, you can quickly, easily and securely activate your iPad on Canada’s reliable network in just a few touch-screen taps.

This also makes it easy to put your data plan on hold during months when you don’t need it. No separate apps required; no phone calls in to a customer-service rep. We believe we’re the only carrier in Canada to offer this innovative on-device activation.

As such, we wanted to pass along some key information should you have a shiny new 3G iPad device in your hand – or if you’re considering buying one.

How to activate on the Rogers network:

1. (Updated May 28, 4:50 pm) Make sure your Micro SIM card is inserted into the device, plug the iPad into an Internet-connected computer, and update to the latest version of iTunes and connect to iTunes to update your iPad with the settings for the Rogers network.
2. On the iPad, click the Settings icon.
3. On the Cellular Data tab, touch View Account.
4. Enter your user and login information (screen shot above), then select your plan. A check mark will appear beside your selection.
5. Enter your payment and billing information. You can subscribe to the plans by pre-paying via Visa, MasterCard or American Express.
6. After reading and agreeing to all Terms of Service, review the payment summary screen and click Submit to complete
7. An email and alert will then be sent to you confirming the transaction and your data plan will take effect in a few minutes.
8. (Updated May 28, 4:50 pm) Once you get an alert on your iPad saying “Data Plan Activated”(screen shot below) you can start using your Rogers cellular data plan immediately.

Managing your account:

1. On the iPad, click the Settings icon
2. On the Cellular Data tab, touch View Account.
3. After logging in, you can see your data usage, status left on your data account and your billing period dates. Here is where you can also add or change your data plan and edit your payment information.
4. If you want to cancel your account, select Cancel Plan and Delete Account Later from the Add/Change Data Plan screen. If you choose to do so, your credit card will no longer be billed but your account will remain active if you want to add a plan within the next 6 months. (If you wait longer than 6 months, you’ll need to get another Micro SIM card to reactivate).

More details on data:

• To help you manage your data usage, you will receive a notification on your iPad when you have 20 per cent, 10 per cent and 0 data left of your usage limit. (Alternatively, you can view your data usage by going to the account overview page).
• Our data plans are “stacked,” meaning that when you purchase more data, any unused existing megabytes will be moved (or “stacked”) onto the new plan as long as it’s within the original 30-day purchase window. For example, if you have 150MB remaining on your plan and decide to buy another 250MB, your new 30-day billing cycle won’t be restarted until that 150MB has been used. (However, if your 150 MB has not been used by the end of the original 30 days, the new plan will automatically start at day No. 31 with 250MB).
• Your iPad’s Micro SIM card must say “Preactivated” in order to function on the Rogers 3G network. You can get a card at Rogers retail stores and authorized re-sellers of Rogers products. For a complete list, check out www.rogers.com/ipad.

Available plans:

We offer two data plans for the iPad – both of which are available without a term contract and include free unlimited access to all Rogers WiFi Hot Spots.

• 250 MB for $15
• 5 GB for $35

Taxes are extra but there are no other charges.

As we confirmed in the comments section of our May 10th post, we have been working on adding data-sharing plans that would allow customers to extend an existing data plan to share with an iPad.

Internationally, data sharing plans are not widely available for the iPad. But we’ve always been proponents of sharing plans, from sharing plans for family members to co-workers. We know many of you are interested in our data sharing options for iPad. They’re not available at this time, but we’ll share more details when we can.

Will you be buying an iPad? What excites you most about the device?

Keith McArthur is Senior Director of Social Media at Rogers.