iPhone and Rogers availability

zarquon

This Blogger post about talking to Rogers about the Apple iPhone :

http://www.johnwiseman.ca/blogging/t...ity-in-canada/

"I have spoken with several representatives from Rogers regarding the availability of the iPhone and it turns out that they are in fact planning on providing the iPhone to Canadians. There are no official statements but the average wait time is 6-8 months minimum once they become available in the US (check the track record with previous smartphones). I’m also told the iPhone will be available on a two or three year contract, and a data plan must also be purchased (data plans in Canada aren’t cheap). Looks like an accurate release date in Canada is sometime Q4 2007 and into early 2008. About the same time that the phone will be available to European carriers."

Sounds like Rogers to lock in a high cost data plan as well.....

Z.

MACSPECTRUM

high data rates could kill their sales
the iPhone is intentionally setup to be used for lots of data transmission

da_jonesy

But thankfully it supports WIFI so in any office setting data charges won't be that much of an issue.

joltguy

Steve mentioned during the Keynote that the iPhone can automatically switch to using a WiFi network if one is within range... which for most urban areas translates to "most of the time".

eBoy

Rogers and Apple are working on getting iPhone to Canada. The phone will be exclusively offered through Rogers. It should become available two-three months after it's available through Cingular down in the States. It will become available in Europe in Q4 2007, and Asia in 2008. The voicemail feature that is available on the device will also be fully functional whoever your provider is. As a qaud-band GSM, iPhone will be functional anywhere you want to use it (some 75% or so of the world). Bell and Telus are still using the old TDMA technology....not supporting iPhone. Data plans available through Rogers don't have to be expensive. The phone will most likely only be offered with a purchase of a data plan of some kind. Kepp in mind that you can change your price plan any time you want, during your commitment.

HowEver

Bell and Telus use CDMA, not TDMA/analog, which Rogers uses but is phasing out completely by May 2007.

It is possible or likely that there will be a longer than 2-3 month delay after the U.S. launch for when you see the iPhone in Canada, but no one really knows at this point.

It is possible that the data plan will be an expensive one. Blackberry plans with Rogers are in the $25 to $100 range per month right now, and none are "unlimited."

I have a grandparented $5 for 3MB per month plan (you read correctly; and the currently available in-market plan costs $5 for 2MB). This plan is only useful for the occasional WAP surfing--WAP sites only or I'd be over my monthly limit after one or two web pages--and for checking a GMail account that only gets light traffic--once in a wheel, when I need to only.

So I think you might be a little confused about the data plan.

Then again, there will be new plans on offer by this summer, and Rogers is going for a bigger share of the market even though they own the "new wireless cell phone customer" market. But with number portability coming in March 2007, this will certainly be a great way to keep customers.

(Again, I don't work for Rogers; apparently I'm just an unpaid shill.)

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