Rogers iPhone 3G Requires 3 Year Contract

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After weeks and weeks of endless 3G iPhone rumors and speculation, Steve Jobs and his team of Apple developers finally delivered their big announcement yesterday: iPhone 3G is here. The new iPhone 3G as Apple calls it is faster, thinner, and cheaper as announced from the WWDC.

Also, Rogers and Fido are the two cellphone providers that will be selling the iPhone 3G. They will be included in the 22 country worldwide iPhone 3G rollout. Rogers released a statement confirming the $199/8GB and $299/16GB pricing, which is great. However, this will come at the cost of a 3 year contract, which most people despise of. Hey, if you want your iPhone you’ll have to sign on for the long term!

Some other questions have risen up over the past 24 hours too. Some of them brought to my attention include…

What will voice/data plans be priced at?
Will Rogers/Fido plans be the same?
Will Rogers sell the 1st generation iPhone?
Is the iPhone 3G going to locked to Rogers?
Do you have to sign up on the spot in stores, or can you purchase an iPhone 3G without paperwork?
I just signed another 3 year contract with Rogers–can I still get the iPhone?

These are some really good questions. We know the voice/data plans will be slightly cheaper than the current plans, but it’s just a matter of how much cheaper. To compare Rogers/Fido, I can see both companies have identical plans.

Will Rogers sell 1st generation iPhones? Fat chance. 1st generation iPhones will soon become collectors’ items and be flooded on eBay and Craigslist. They’ve been OOS for the past  month almost.

Regarding locking, you can bet your youngest child that the iPhone 3G will belocked to the Rogers network. Time to wait dilgently for the iPhone Dev Tem to get to work if they are up to the challenge.

As for the signing up part, I strongly believe the model of selling iPhones at AT&T in the USA will be modelled here. You won’t be able to leave the Rogers store with an iPhone until you complete the details of that lucrative (and eternity-like) 3 year contract. AT&T had activation online as a possibility, but I don’t see that happening with Rogers.

Wait a minute, you just signed a new 3 year deal recently?! How does this new announcement affect you? Well, I am sure Rogers has thought of this already. Most likely you might have to pay some more money to upgrade to an iPhone, or send back your phone to Rogers in exchange for an iPhone. Maybe we’ll hear more about this later from Ted himself.

Given how long Canadians have had to wait for the iPhone (and the rest of the world), there are many people who would be more than happy to sign a 3 year commitment to get the newest iPhone. At $199, it’s almost too good of a deal to resist. Yes, you are committing to 3 years, but keep in mind a year ago people paid $599 for an 8GB! $199 for the next generation 8GB is quite reasonable.

As for myself, I am looking forward to getting my hands on the iPhone 3G, but not with a 3 year commitment. That means jailbreaking/unlocking/activating all over again (which we don’t even know if it can be unlocked–I guarantee it will happen), but that just makes owning one that much better. I mean, can you imagine the Rogers “jingle” on your iPhone or some sort of Rogers logo? Not my cup of tea folks (who knows if that will be the case)!! I will make my ultimate decision once Rogers announces their monthly voice/data pricing.

Before I sign off on this longer than usual post, the big question remains: How many of you unlocked iPhone users will be switching to the iPhone 3G? Let us know what you will be doing in the comments!

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