Apple iPhone in Canada Release Date: January 18th?

What is up with Canada not having the iPhone already?! Like I mentioned before, as the biggest trading partner of the United States of America, wouldn’t it only seem fitting that its neighbour to the north gets the almighty Apple iPhone? I would think so–yet for some reason, that is just not happening in Canada. Why? Well, there are a number of reasons that have been discussed before. Let’s take a look at the round up of rumors and other miscellaneous stories that have either made Canadians irate, tickling with envy, or just downright pissy that the beloved iPhone has not hit our borders!

August 3rd: this guy bringing back two iPhones from the US forgets to declare one of them–which leads to a $400 fine and a being stuck in a holding cell

September 7th: Bobby Tzanev manages to hack the iPhone’s hardware to use it in Canada. Was this before the days of AnySIM?

October 11th: Comcave and their “iphone” trademark dispute results in a further iPhone delay in Canada

October 24th: Molson Breweries backtracks on their initial announcement that an iPhone would be awarded as a contest prize (this one had people going!)

November 27th: the life of an iPhone owner that writes for the media–don’t you wish you had your iPhone now?

When will the iPhone come to Canada?

Well, most people think it will come to Canada on January 18th, according to the following image posted on various blogs out in the blogosphere. Will it come? That is a good question. To fully understand why the iPhone is not in Canada, you need to understand the mobile market in this country. We have three major carriers that dominate the wireless industry: Rogers, Telus, and Bell. Rogers is the only GSM provider in Canada. Period.

This wasn’t always the case though. Start up company Microcell created the GSM Fido carrier years ago–that is until Rogers bought them out. So if you want a GSM phone in Canada, your only choice is Rogers (which totally sucks by the way; their business practices are more than questionable). If you don’t like GSM, your other choice lies in the CDMA networks of Telus (which also acquired ClearNET, another start up CDMA provider) and Bell. Can you believe that these big three companies have a stranglehold on the Canadian market? I can’t wait till the spring of 2008, when new companies will get the chance to bid on the new wireless spectrum in Canada.

PLEASE, someone save us from this madness! We need some wireless competition out there!These companies force ridiculous “system access fees” on us (ranging from $6.95/month), thus making Canadians pay some of the highest mobile rates in the world, yet our cell phone technology is also the worst. Consumers are fighting back though–and hard with a 1.3-1.5 billion dollar lawsuit!

Not only that, data rates in Canada are some of the most expensive in the world. Some say that Rogers refuses to take on the iPhone as it will cut into the profits–since Rogers will have to lower their data plan prices! We will never know when the iPhone will come to Canada–only time will tell. However, if you are super desperate and want your hands on an iPhone, make sure you read up on previous post about The Top 5 Ways for Canadians to Buy the iPhone–it just might make your Christmas day!

Mark your calendars for January 18th, that could be a special day–yet, the iPhone will probably cost Canadians $499-599–on a 3 year term of course!! Typical, typical Rogers…

ocanadaiphone.jpg

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