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iPhone coming to Canada this year states Rogers

qbattersby

By qbattersby

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Not a rumor, reported today by CBC. The day has come (sorta)!

 

 

Good news for all Canadians, including myself. Rogers Communications Inc. said Tuesday it has reached an agreement to bring Apple Inc.'s iPhone to Canada later this year.

 

But the company declined to give pricing details or say when it would begin offering the popular mobile handset, which has drawn praise for its sleek design and internet capabilities since it was first launched a year ago in the United States. Earlier this week, Apple said it expected to sell 10 million iPhones worldwide this year.

 

"We're thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year," said president Ted Rogers in a brief statement. "We can't tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned."

 

Rogers has long been rumoured to be the wireless carrier most likely to offer the iPhone in Canada, as it is the only Canadian carrier using the GSM (Global System Mobile) communications standard needed to run the iPhone. Canada's two other main cellphone providers, Bell Canada and Telus, use the competing CDMA standard.

 

But both Rogers and Apple had been tight-lipped about a possible Canadian release date. There has been speculation that part of the delay in bringing the iPhone to Canada was a dispute over pricing between Apple and Rogers. Apple has also been involved in a year-long trademark dispute with Toronto-based Comwave Telecom Inc. over the rights to the name "iPhone."

 

There are thousands of iPhones already in Canada, but most of these have been bought in the United States and unlocked to work on Rogers's network.

 

The iPhone, which earlier this year added a number of features designed to make it more business friendly, is expected to compete with Waterloo, Ont.-based Research in Motion Ltd.'s line of Blackberry smart phones.

 

Well perhaps for all of us Canadians with outrageous cell-phone bills, especially us blackberry users (myself included) will receive some better options once the iPhone hits the market.

 

I live in Waterloo, Ont. – and reportedly Research In Motion have responded stating they do not feel threatened by the recent news regardless of Apple Inc.’s updated business-friendly iPhone.

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Urbz

yeah, um... a little late.

But anyways, the $60 US iPhone rate plan is very enticing to me. If that exact package would come to Rogers, I'll be getting an iPhone without unlocking it, especially because the plan is pretty much better than what i have now and I pay about $50 without any sort of data plan with my razr.

So I think the rate plans will be the deciding factor for most Canadians, and I do hope that they decide not to steal from us like every other plan out there currently does.

Funny that I found out about this first on the evening news!

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nils82

I have a plan with Fido which is also a rogers property. I think I'd give a call to Fido to check if they'd offer the iphone over their network.

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qbattersby

I currently pay upwards of $80 CAD for my blackberry plan, which consists of 1mb of data, 200minutes and the extras. I don't think I will switch as I truly enjoy the blackberry experience and have an iPod touch and can't stand typing on it although it would be excellent if I could get a better blackberry plan for the same cost once the iPhone comes to town.

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nils82
I currently pay upwards of $80 CAD for my blackberry plan, which consists of 1mb of data, 200minutes and the extras. I don't think I will switch as I truly enjoy the blackberry experience and have an iPod touch and can't stand typing on it although it would be excellent if I could get a better blackberry plan for the same cost once the iPhone comes to town.

 

yeah its off subject but i had the ipod touch for a day i couldnt stand it i walk alot and cannot each time i wanna change the song i have to take it out from my pocket just to change the song

i retuned back to futureshop for ipod classic

 

id have the iphone as a mobile phone it s cool

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Technobob

Don't count on Rogers to offer the same plan as the US, they will find a way to rip us off like they have been for years. I was a Fido customer before Rogers bought them and it did not take them long to start screwing me.

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pyrates

Im on fido myself and there's no way Im switching to Rogers for the iPhone. I got cityfido, never giving that up. Right now I've got 4 months of unlimited internet from fido, but after that I'm gonna cancel it as I've found it useless. I'm always near wifi usually.

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arthur5005

Ted Rogers can suck it. He probably found a way to screw us all. Why do you think it took so long for it to come to Canada? The whole telecommunication industry here is a sham. An oligopoly if you will, with every company screwing everyone, there's really no choice in the market.

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SA22C

I placed my order for an 8 GB iPhone the day before this announcement.

 

Even so, I don't regret my decision. I strongly suspect that the Rogers price for both the data plan and the iPhone itself will still be greatly inflated over the US retail price, and the 3G features don't really matter _that_ much to me. Since the data plans are (and probably will continue to be) prohibitively expensive, getting the new iPhone with faster cellular data rates doesn't really have much of an appeal.

 

As it stands now, I've got a new iPhone for less than the US retail price on a decently priced voice plan. In the unlikely event that Rogers does offer a reasonable data plan when they get the iPhone in a few months, I'll gladly sign up.

 

But I'm not holding my breath.

 

I gotta say though, I love my iPhone. It really is a great cell/smart-phone.

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qbattersby

So Rogers has just recently changed the rates on their data plans just after then end of their 2nd quarter. I actually called and adjusted my current blackberry plan. ($10 drop for .5mb more monthly) I was told they adjust their plans every quarter based on their customers needs, also they expect the iPhone at either then end of the Third or Fourth quarter however the representative couldn't give me any information about the plans being adjusted for the iPhone although she mentioned that she expects the plans will change.

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Urbz

My guess would be the plans would amount to about $10 more than those in the States...

Although my hope is that they will be equal!

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