The following is the information that we have so far regarding the release and availability of the Apple iPhone.Rogers is now backtracking on those statements, according to this CBC article:
- The iPhone will first be introduced in North America
- Cingular is the only wireless carrier to launch the iPhone in the United States
- Rogers is actively working with Apple to launch the iPhone in Canada as soon as possible and will be the exclusive provider of the iPhone in Canada
- Apple is planning to introduce the iPhone in Europe (Q4 2007) and Asia (2008)
- Please be advised that Rogers will be offering the iPhone exclusively in Canada
- Launch date and pricing for Canada are not yet available
- Other Canadian wireless carriers will not launch the iPhone; Rogers will be the only Canadian wireless carrier to offer the iPhone
In Canada, Rogers Wireless Inc. — the only wireless service provider in the country with a network the iPhone can use — offered no launch date and dismissed the idea that it would sell the highly anticipated device as "speculation."Fortunately for me, I was not planning to get the iPhone anyway in its first iteration. I'm not really that interested in the iPhone until it is 3G and gets more storage space. Furthermore, I'd like to see how long the battery lasts in real-world usage, especially considering that the iPhone's battery is not removable.
"We haven't announced whether we will carry the iPhone," Odette Coleman, manager of corporate communications for Rogers Wireless, said in an e-mail to CBC News Online. "Everything in the media has been speculations to this point. The only fact is that we are the only GSM carrier in Canada. That's the only fact."
[Update 2007-04-08]
Rogers has backtracked on its backtracking. Rogers confirmed again to iPhone World that they in fact will be getting the iPhone.
2 comments:
I am wondering how the public can make Rogers get their act together. I really doubt the hold up is with Apple. I anticipate there is some problem with Rogers conceding to the requirements of Apple (unlimited wireless) and I anticipate this is something that Rogers is not particularly interested in, with the current price plan structure on Blackberries.
The worst part is that the telecommunications market has no regulation, and the essentially is run by Bell and Rogers. There's no choice for a GSM carrier as Fido is also owned by Rogers. If there was any interest for the public, the CRTC would have interjected and made a stink about this blatant consolidation of the GSM network. I am really disappointed that there isn't any more public outrage regarding this matter.
I personally don't even know where to start. But I want to put some pressure on Rogers. I'll try to make a post about this in the next few days, and try to summarize my thoughts to that end. I know there is a petition to ensure when the iPhone comes to Canada, that it be an affordable data plan. But I wonder when it is going to land. I really do.
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