# Rogers Wireless lands exclusive iPhone deal in Canada



## jbot (Oct 20, 2005)

It's official.... w00t!

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2438

http://andrewescobar.com/archive/2007/01/15/rogers-to-offer-iphone-exclusivly-in-canada/


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

Sorry but this isn't telling us much that we don't already know. Because the phone is GSM, the only carrier in Canada who could possibly carry it would be Rogers. There is no 'official' announcement. Only an announcement from Rogers that they are actively working with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada. 

We know that unless Rogers really screws the negotiations up, they will become the Canadian carrier. What we don't know is when, how much for the phone, what kind of commitments in terms of contract, and costs for plans associated with the phone.

Until we see an official release from Rogers stating that they iPhone is now available, nothing is official.


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## jbot (Oct 20, 2005)

I guess that I interpreted the following differently than you:

"Rogers Wireless has *sealed a deal* with Apple Inc. to become the exclusive carrier for iPhone in Canada, according to a customer advisory notice sent to subscribers this week."

Disregard this thread if it is in fact not newsworthy.


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## MACinist (Nov 17, 2003)

Newsworthy, but I didn't doubt it. Rogers (being the only GSM carrier in Canada) even realizes they are sitting on a goldmine and would be stupid to not persue a relationship with Apple Canada to get the phone released here shortly after the US. I wonder if retailers like the Apple store or Carbon would carry the iPhone with Rogers contracts...


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

jbot said:


> I guess that I interpreted the following differently than you:
> 
> "Rogers Wireless has *sealed a deal* with Apple Inc. to become the exclusive carrier for iPhone in Canada, according to a customer advisory notice sent to subscribers this week."
> 
> Disregard this thread if it is in fact not newsworthy.


I'm sorry if my original response sounded harsh, but if you follow the links and read the articles, there is nothing that has made it official. Just one person's interpretation of the boilerplate email that has gone out to anyone who has put an inquiry into Rogers about the iPhone. This wasn't a Rogers press release, it wasn't even a quote from a Rogers representative.

I know that if and when the iPhone comes to Canada, Rogers is the only carrier who could possibly carry it.

If I remember correctly, the Palm vii was one of the first smart devices and it never was available in Canada. As we are all aware, all of the telcos have made some incredibly stupid mistakes. I won't trust Canadian availability until I see a Rogers press release stating that they are NOW carrying the iPhone.


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## DS (Oct 7, 2004)

Pricing based on a locked phone is the big deal breaker here.

I just want an unlocked phone, and will pay for it. Theres no freaking way I'm going on a 3 year contract for a decent price, nor paying the full carrier price for a POS locked phone.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## guytoronto (Jun 25, 2005)

DS said:


> Pricing based on a locked phone is the big deal breaker here.
> 
> I just want an unlocked phone, and will pay for it. Theres no freaking way I'm going on a 3 year contract for a decent price, nor paying the full carrier price for a POS locked phone.


Yet another rant from an ignorant consumer.


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## RKM (Jun 23, 2005)

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!


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## MACinist (Nov 17, 2003)

DS said:


> Pricing based on a locked phone is the big deal breaker here.
> 
> I just want an unlocked phone, and will pay for it. Theres no freaking way I'm going on a 3 year contract for a decent price, nor paying the full carrier price for a POS locked phone.


WHO CARES IF IT'S LOCKED!!! It's not like you have choice of GSM carriers in Canada. You plan on moving out of country? By the time it comes out, there will be an unlock flex/flash anyways.


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## Roland (Aug 15, 2002)

Unlocked phones are great for travelling in Europe. I picked up an unlocked phone at a store in Poland and it worked like a champ when I put in my Rogers SIM card.

(It's a TON cheaper to buy a pay-as-you-go card from a local carrier over there then it is to pay the exorbidant roaming charges Rogers bills you.)


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## DS (Oct 7, 2004)

HowEver said:


> I'm curious to know: what kind of cell phone do you use now? Is it locked or unlocked? Where else do you use it (necessitating its unlocked status, if it is)?
> 
> Thanks.


Well, I spend about 3-4 months total time in Mexico each year, so naturally I have a Mexican SIM card with a local number. 

I have always had unlocked phones and nothing but. No unlocked iPhone, no business, it's as simple as that. How does that make me an ignorant consumer? I'm not going to buy something that doesn't suit me, no matter how nice it is.

I do like the iPhone, and I would buy one. I literally had my credit card ready throughout the keynote. However as everything materialized throughout the keynote, it really turned me off of the iPhone by the end.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

As I said before, Rogers released the Treo 680 merely a month and a half after it was released in the US, Rogers has been really good in releasing phones in a timely manner and I assure you they can't wait to get this cash cow out on the market.


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## Johnny Melano (Jan 26, 2004)

The Blackberry Pearl was released not even a month after it was seen in the US. I'm sure Rogers will work hard to get it out ASAP.


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## imachungry (Sep 19, 2004)

guytoronto said:


> Yet another rant from an ignorant consumer.


I have noticed that you seem bent on antagonizing people on this board. What is up your bottom, friend? 

His concern is quite legitimate. I share it and so do lots of others.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Whatever the response, the rant was confusing at best.

Expecting Rogers or any wireless carrier to sell you a phone that you can simply walk away with and use with any carrier is beyond reasonable expectations.

It makes less sense in Canada where Rogers (with Rogers-owned fido) is the only GSM provider, but we're not that far from a crushingly larger market to the south.

That said, the ease with which most any cell phone can be unlocked, either for free or for a pittance, makes one wonder what the ranter's concern is with Rogers' sale of locked cell phones.

More confusing was the remark about "paying the full carrier price for a POS locked phone." You DON'T pay the full price for Rogers' cell phones: you either buy them at a subsidy with a new activation, or get a hardware upgrade subsidy. As for the sale of "POS" cell phones, do your research better--or post in a thread that isn't about the iPhone, which is many months away from a release date.





imachungry said:


> I have noticed that you seem bent on antagonizing people on this board. What is up your bottom, friend?
> 
> His concern is quite legitimate. I share it and so do lots of others.


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## TroutMaskReplica (Feb 28, 2003)

imachungry said:


> I have noticed that you seem bent on antagonizing people on this board. What is up your bottom, friend?
> 
> His concern is quite legitimate. I share it and so do lots of others.


guytoronto exists on this board only to make sarcastic remarks of little to no value. also, he thinks he's forum police, which is also annoying.


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## DS (Oct 7, 2004)

My issue is more with Apple than it is Rogers. Looks like Apple will not retail this phone at the Apple store as an unlocked phone as most other manufacturers do with all of their phones. Instead with their "exclusive" partnerships they are essentially either forcing you into a contract where you get the subsidized price, or to buy the phone from the carrier WITHOUT a contract and get a locked phone while paying a full non-subsidized price. 

The no-contract or straight buyout prices from the carrier are as high or higher than the prices you can normally get the phone unlocked directly from the manufacturer for.

This is my problem, it looks like there is not going to be an option to pay full price to buy a manufacturer unlocked phone, you only have the option of paying the full no-contract price from the carrier and end up with a locked phone. 

See where I'm coming from? If Apple wants to tell me who I can use this phone with, and not offer me an option to pay full price and use it as I see fit, they are not going to get my business.



HowEver said:


> Whatever the response, the rant was confusing at best.
> 
> Expecting Rogers or any wireless carrier to sell you a phone that you can simply walk away with and use with any carrier is beyond reasonable expectations.
> 
> ...


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## DS (Oct 7, 2004)

Well, when I say directly through the manufacturer I mean either that or through a dealer, the key is manufacturer unlocked/unbranded. I've always been buying manufacturer unlocked cellphones from various dealers for years now at competitive prices. 

I also won't go on a contract term for more than one year. Telus always seemed to be good with this, giving me perks and good deals as I built up tenure with them. Unfortunately I can't use their phones in other countries without "roaming" even if I wanted to, and that's ultimately why I switched away from them. I like the freedom of GSM, that's what it's all about. I spent some time with Fido, and since the buyout I just moved over to Rogers completely. 

I don't really blame Rogers for this, but it makes me wonder. Since the subsidy is only really provided if you sign a contract, what is the harm of you using the phone with another carrier anyways, Rogers is still getting your money regardless. Right now the early cancellation fee is $200, and they're about to raise it to $400. I think that is more than enough to cover your subsidy if you decide to cancel really early and move to another carrier with your phone (which isn't even an issue in Canada as you said).


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## mcdermij (Oct 13, 2006)

I agree with DS. While I'm not informed enough on the mobile phone industry to debate this point for point, as a customer, I'd love an iphone for all the other features it offers. 

Now I'm sure the previous statement will incur all sorts of nasty retorts, but where else can i get a widescreen video ipod, ical, address book, internet browser, and picture viewer all touch screen and syncable with my mac?

My hope is apple will release a similar alternative for customers like me, or sell the iphone contract-free.


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## MACinist (Nov 17, 2003)

DS said:


> Well, when I say directly through the manufacturer I mean either that or through a dealer, the key is manufacturer unlocked/unbranded. I've always been buying manufacturer unlocked cellphones from various dealers for years now at competitive prices.


So you are not being specific as to what dealers you are referring to but I am just going to assume in this instance (sorry). These "dealers" sell grey market products (I have bought many times myself). These phones are sent from overseas. You cannot even compare buying a phone locally through the normal channel to sourcing an overseas grey market product. Although, grey market is not illegal, it is very frowned upon by the manufacturer's themselves as it kills the local market. 

With that said, from my experience, buying phones from overseas have many drawbacks as well. Although unlocked, it usually comes with the wrong power adapter, localized language settings that are sometimes impossible to change without flexing/flashing the phone which is not an easy thing to do for an everyday consumer.

I think your thread was only categorized as a "rant" simply because you say "Theres no freaking way I'm going on a 3 year contract for a decent price, nor paying the full carrier price for a POS locked phone." Which, I'm sorry, is a rant-like statement. 

A phone is locked for many reasons that advance the interest of both the manufacturer and the service provider which all make sense from a business perspective. Why would Rogers unlock a phone for you? Of course they want to capitalize on roaming services! Any service company would. And why would Apple want to sell it unlocked in the Apple store? Of course they will put measures in to control a market. There is always going to be grey market product and no one can stop it but it is very unfair to compare buying a phone from a grey market dealer to buying a phone through the proper channels. 

So the short answer is, buy what you please, but before you start labeling things a "POS", there are import/export laws, fair trading practices and regional costing structures that all affect the price of the phone.


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## MACSPECTRUM (Oct 31, 2002)

manufacturers may look at selling unlocked phones in canada after march 14, 2007 when the CRTC forces cell carriers to allow number x-fer


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

MACSPECTRUM said:


> manufacturers may look at selling unlocked phones in canada after march 14, 2007 when the CRTC forces cell carriers to allow number x-fer


I'm not that knowledgeable about the practices of unlocking phones but I'm stumped to understand why this will make a difference? The iPhone is a GSM phone and currently there is only one carrier, Rogers, (under two brands, Rogers and Fido), who can support this phone in Canada. 

Is there another reason that I am missing?


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

Oakbridge said:


> I'm not that knowledgeable about the practices of unlocking phones but I'm stumped to understand why this will make a difference? The iPhone is a GSM phone and currently there is only one carrier, Rogers, (under two brands, Rogers and Fido), who can support this phone in Canada.
> 
> Is there another reason that I am missing?


In Canada, the main benefit of an unlocked phone isn't actually useable in Canada. With an unlocked GSM "World Phone", you can buy a SIM card from a local store in the country you are visiting, and use it for calls - paying local charges only. No roaming, etc.


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## jhollington (Jan 29, 2007)

Actually, I believe Rogers _will_ still unlock your cell phone for you for a hefty fee ($250 last I checked). The main advantage to this, of course, being the ability to use it in other countries without paying psychotic roaming charges.

There might be a _slight_ advantage to being able to use an unlocked phone on the Fido network if they had a rate package that appealed more to your usage style (since Fido's and Rogers rate plans _do_ still differ), but the real advantage is still for international use. Roaming charges run into the $2/min range for voice, and I don't even want to _talk_ about data charges 

Whether this would apply to the iPhone is another story entirely, however, since Apple may not allow it to be unlocked (technically or by contract).


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

HowEver said:


> Rogers will help you out with a PUK code for free if you punch in the wrong safety-lock code too many times! (Please tell me you use a phone-lock code so that if you lose your phone you won't be paying massive long distance or other charges.)


Please tell me you call in to your phone service provider pronto to report your lost or stolen phone.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## VO1NFLD (Jan 27, 2007)

Hopefully Telus would get the iPhone . Rogers has really bad reception through out NL . sucks really and the closest tower is only 15 mins away and i can;t get reception here.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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## jhollington (Jan 29, 2007)

VO1NFLD said:


> Hopefully Telus would get the iPhone . Rogers has really bad reception through out NL . sucks really and the closest tower is only 15 mins away and i can;t get reception here.


Not going to happen any time soon, since Telus is still CDMA (like Bell), and therefore won't support the current iPhone technology.

Rumours persist that the Asian iPhone will be CDMA-based, so there _might_ be a possibility once that model has been produced, but it's still pretty unlikely. I'm also suspecting that Rogers and Apple will sign a similar deal to the one that Apple singed with Cingular.


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## MacGYVER (Apr 15, 2005)

Interesting discussion here on the iPhone.

I for one, cannot wait until the iPhone comes to Canada. This is what I have been waiting for in a cell phone. All cell phones today basically feel like they just threw everything together without really thinking about the end user. Some are complicated and others come with an instruction booklet 30 pages long. As for price of the iPhone? I am not worried about how much it will cost when I look at other prices of Smart Phones from Rogers. It will be right up there along with them if not a few bucks more. In the end, I will have a cell phone that will work the way OS X works for me on my Mac.

As for those people who want an unlocked version of the iPhone, sure Apple could give you one, but say good bye to some of the functions, like EDGE technology that Rogers has like fast surfing with Safari on the iPhone, or how about the voice mail set up on the iPhone, won't be possible with an unlocked iPhone. Who knows what other parts of the software in the iPhone will be tied to the technology coming from Rogers. So yes, it could be unlocked, but why pay for a phone for only 50% of the features?

I think this is why Apple needs, not wants, but needs to deal with a locked iPhone so that the necessary technology can be used within the iPhone at the beginning of launch. Who knows, maybe other carriers in the near future will catch up with technology that Rogers offers? maybe other carriers will look at Apple and maybe work with them to provide their customers with the same sort of technology that the iPhone provides. You have to remember that the iPhone needs Apple and a cell phone carrier with the right technology for everything in the iPhone to work. One without the other, and you have a cell phone just like the rest of them.


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## milhaus (Jun 1, 2004)

You lost me when you mentioned EDGE and fast in the same sentence. Give me 3G please.


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## MacGYVER (Apr 15, 2005)

Hahaha... yeah I can see where you're coming from there milhaus . Remember Edge and fast depends on the software technology at hand. Apple proved that with the iPhone, so perhaps the iPhone will be the first cell phone to take advantage of pure speed on EDGE....haha..only time will tell . 

3G hasn't really taken off around the globe like most of us think. I believe even in Asia where 3G is quite popular you have to be within a major city for you to use 3G. So really, it is used, but not like we think. Perhaps we should just switch over to satellites instead of towers?


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## jhollington (Jan 29, 2007)

Let's be realistic here..... EDGE is generally fast enough for _most_ phone-based applications that the common user will be likely to take advantage of in the short term.

Basic web surfing and e-mail is fine over EDGE when you've got a decent connection (the vagaries of EDGE connection quality are _another_ story, and HSDPA will suffer from the same issues if it's not properly deployed).

I've been using a Blackberry 8700 for the past year, and recently decided to try out a Nokia E62 (after my BB suffered a mishap). EDGE on both devices is more than adequate for the basic web-surfing (ie, reading the news), and normal e-mail sync.

Of course, as people start to want to take advantage of features like streaming video and tethering, EDGE will of course end up being painfully slow by comparison to what most of us are otherwise used to (ie, broadband). Since the iPhone doesn't presently include any such features, however, nor the ability to add them (at least not officially), EDGE is probably going to be more than adequate.


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## adam.sn (Feb 7, 2007)

MACinist said:


> WHO CARES IF IT'S LOCKED!!! It's not like you have choice of GSM carriers in Canada. You plan on moving out of country? By the time it comes out, there will be an unlock flex/flash anyways.


Actually you do... Fido offers much better rates than rogers, i'm on a corporate plan as well and I do have data access. So the deal behind it being unlocked is fairly large. Especially if you're buying a foreign sim for other countries.

p.s. - i realize rogers owns fido. fido still has better rates and by the second billing.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

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