Even with having a handful of wireless carriers in Canada that now offer the iPhone, it just seems we can’t catch a break. They’ve got us locked in and locked down. From every angle. And now we have more to add to the list. Bell is apparently swinging the iPhone hammer, and placing some restrictions on the purchases of iPhones.
Bell released a document that went into effect yesterday titled “Maximum of 2 iPhones per client unless a security deposit is paid†and goes on to state that a mandatory security deposit of $200 is required if you wish to purchase additional iPhones. One might question why you would need more than 2, and I can only assume that at that point Bell figures you got money burning a hole in your pocket.
The document reads:
“The launch of the Apple iPhone at Bell has generated tremendous interest and activations since its launch. As a high level of iPhone sales activity continues to be anticipated during the holiday season, effective immediately, a maximum of two iPhones per client is permitted (unless a security deposit is paid). Clients who have already activated 2 or more iPhones on a Consumer – Personal type account, and are attempting to activate another iPhone, will have a $0.01 Security Deposit added to their account along with the following special instruction, which will cause the application to “left-turn†to NCS: “All additional iPhone activations require a $200 Security Deposit per unit upon activation. No exceptions.â€
I still continue to dream of a day where Canadian Wireless providers start to compete with each other, and become more open-minded to the idea that if they were to lower rates, upgrade bandwidth capacity, and offer genuine support, in hopes that they might realize that it would actually attract more customers, generate more profit, and see a huge migration of users to smartphones. Of course it will probably never happen. Or by the time it does, some new technology will be used that it will be irrelevant .
