# iPhone 4G Release Carrier



## iammzz (Apr 14, 2010)

I was wondering, would the current Canadian carriers that have (and I'm assuming would be likely to have) the iPhone get iPhone 4G at the same time?

I was not into Apple products during the first three launches, so I'm not familiar with how the carriers respond to releases.

Do the "higher-end" carriers (Rogers and Bell) get the products sooner, or do all carriers (including Virgin, Fido, and Telus) get them at the same time?

I ask because I would rather sign up for a cheaper plan from either Virgin or Telus, and to take a break from Rogers for a while and compare service elsewhere.


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## andreww (Nov 20, 2002)

They will all get the 4G at the same time.


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## iammzz (Apr 14, 2010)

Are you certain? This would definitely be good news for me.

The next question is if would I be able to get my hands on one, especially given the current iPad shortage. Again, this is a result of me not paying attention during the previous launches. I am aware there are some difficulties, but more detail on the topic would be nice.


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

Historically, the rollout has been on the same day, or within a few days, though those were in other countries. This will be the first release in Canada with multiple carriers supporting the phone.


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## daniels (Jul 27, 2009)

ipads were different it was a line of new product that almost every person wanted to get their hands on and the iphone is something that everyone knows about, plus about 30% of the 50% that have iphones are tied in their iphone 3GS contract so they wont be able to upgrade till 2011. the iphone 4G or HD what ever you call it will be released the same time as the US and all the carriers will get it in Canada. June 8th is the release date that we are expecting and it will be released sometime in that month.


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## iammzz (Apr 14, 2010)

Excellent. I have already canceled my current phone service with rogers in anticipation, and the actual change will occur on June 20th. It would definitely in my advantage if the phone were to be released early June, is available for purchase, and is offered by all carriers.


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

The only carriers that will have it are Rogers, Telus and Bell, and their respective budget brands (Fido, Solo, etc). None of the newcomers (Public Mobile, WIND, etc) will carry it.


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## iammzz (Apr 14, 2010)

Oh, that's not a problem. I wouldn't trust the reliability of the new networks anyways.

How are Telus and Bell related? I always thought that Telus was either a branch owned by Bell (Like the Rogers to Fido relationship) or an independent company that rents the Bell network.


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

Bell and Telus are two CDMA providers in Canada, with Telus in the West and Bell in the East. They have agreements for network sharing, and the like.


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## Paul82 (Sep 19, 2007)

Bell and Telus are two separate companies, and are not directly related, but they do work closely. When each went national they had network sharing agreements, bell used telus' network in the west, and vice versa in the east. With 3G as of last fall they both operate on the same network they built together. Both have their own "discount" brands, kodo, solo, and virgin.


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## iammzz (Apr 14, 2010)

Ah, I see. This probably doesn't belong here, but which provider would be a good choice for a fresh start?


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## Ekasra (Oct 3, 2008)

iammzz said:


> Ah, I see. This probably doesn't belong here, but which provider would be a good choice for a fresh start?


 There are simply a lot of factors to take into account when answering this question. First of all, your location. This is probably the most important thing to take into account. My girlfriend got an iPhone through Telus and doesn't live in an urban location and it's lead to a lot of problems (calls dropping, delayed text messages, a bigger train on the battery). If you live in an urban city, there shouldn't be any problems, but I do recommend you look up some of the coverage maps that can be found on the net. If you're looking into getting the next generation of iPhones, chances are it'll have 4G capabilities, so looking into which carrier will have 4G fully operational in your area first is probably where you should start. 

Secondly and thirdly, the plans each offer and of course the cost. Generally, basic plans start at $65 and higher end ones go for $75-80. I should state that when researching which is the best for you to make sure you are looking at the iPhone plans since those are ones you need to get in order to get a contract. I say basic plans because each company has a variety of add-ons and other services. For example, let's compare Rogers and Fido. Fido, despite being the "discount" brand for Rogers has a very different plan. Both companies have a $65 and $80 iPhone plans. Each company offers the same amount of weekday minutes and offers free weekend minutes. However, Rogers offers more data in their plans, while Fido offers unlimited text messaging in theirs (which needs to be purchased through an addon if you're going with Rogers). I suppose what I'm trying to say is to do the research yourself, and pick a plan according to how you expect you'll use the phone. 

I will caution you though, and as a word of advice to anyone planning to jump on the iPhone bandwagon: a normal user will never use more than 500MB of data. I bought my phone when Rogers was running the 6GB/month promotion and haven't gone over 500MB in the almost two years I've had it. Unless you're going to be streaming radio or using very data heavy applications or features (such as tethering, however, most companies won't allow you to tether unless you have 1GB), you can go with the 500MB plans and rest easy.


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

Ekasra said:


> There are simply a lot of factors to take into account when answering this question. First of all, your location. This is probably the most important thing to take into account. My girlfriend got an iPhone through Telus and doesn't live in an urban location and it's lead to a lot of problems (calls dropping, delayed text messages, a bigger train on the battery). If you live in an urban city, there shouldn't be any problems, but I do recommend you look up some of the coverage maps that can be found on the net. If you're looking into getting the next generation of iPhones, chances are it'll have 4G capabilities, so looking into which carrier will have 4G fully operational in your area first is probably where you should start.
> 
> Secondly and thirdly, the plans each offer and of course the cost. Generally, basic plans start at $65 and higher end ones go for $75-80. I should state that when researching which is the best for you to make sure you are looking at the iPhone plans since those are ones you need to get in order to get a contract. I say basic plans because each company has a variety of add-ons and other services. For example, let's compare Rogers and Fido. Fido, despite being the "discount" brand for Rogers has a very different plan. Both companies have a $65 and $80 iPhone plans. Each company offers the same amount of weekday minutes and offers free weekend minutes. However, Rogers offers more data in their plans, while Fido offers unlimited text messaging in theirs (which needs to be purchased through an addon if you're going with Rogers). I suppose what I'm trying to say is to do the research yourself, and pick a plan according to how you expect you'll use the phone.
> 
> I will caution you though, and as a word of advice to anyone planning to jump on the iPhone bandwagon: a normal user will never use more than 500MB of data. I bought my phone when Rogers was running the 6GB/month promotion and haven't gone over 500MB in the almost two years I've had it. Unless you're going to be streaming radio or using very data heavy applications or features (such as tethering, however, most companies won't allow you to tether unless you have 1GB), you can go with the 500MB plans and rest easy.


For the nth time, the next iPhone will NOT have 4G cellular capabilities. Waiting for a 4G-capable phone means you'll be waiting a long while.


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## RiceBoy (Aug 1, 2009)

Also, Bell and Telus both have iPhone plans starting at $50. The "basic plans start at $65" statement is applicable to Rogers, as with the min 1GB plan required for tethering. The $50 plans from Bell and Telus includes 500MB of data and tethering.


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## Mrsam (Jan 14, 2006)

RiceBoy said:


> Also, Bell and Telus both have iPhone plans starting at $50. The "basic plans start at $65" statement is applicable to Rogers, as with the min 1GB plan required for tethering. The $50 plans from Bell and Telus includes 500MB of data and tethering.


Actually Rogers Smartphone plan starts at $50, also with 500MB of data.


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## okcomputer (Jul 18, 2005)

Ekasra said:


> First of all, your location. This is probably the most important thing to take into account. My girlfriend got an iPhone through Telus and doesn't live in an urban location and it's lead to a lot of problems (calls dropping, delayed text messages, a bigger train on the battery). If you live in an urban city, there shouldn't be any problems,


That's kind of funny, because the opposite is true here in NS. Rogers is great in Halifax, and sucks in the country. Bell and Telus are great pretty much everywhere. And guess who I'm stuck with because I just HAD to have the iPhone when it first came out?


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## hhk (May 31, 2006)

Called my Telus rep today. She said she's heard nothing about a 4G release. She also said that Telus, by contract, must get new Apple hardware within 30 days. Anyone care to comment? Do such agreements exist?


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## sheamus (May 20, 2010)

> Called my Telus rep today. She said she's heard nothing about a 4G release.


I doubt that info is passed down to sales reps and CSR's until after it is announced.



> She also said that Telus, by contract, must get new Apple hardware within 30 days. Anyone care to comment? Do such agreements exist?


I believe they are fairly common. I have heard of them with Rogers and RIM before.



> That's kind of funny, because the opposite is true here in NS. Rogers is great in Halifax, and sucks in the country. Bell and Telus are great pretty much everywhere.


It is the same in the west. I have lived in SK, AB, and NS in the last 5 years. I suspect it is the case in central canada as well. Rogers has a different business model. Because they had to build all their own towers, they only did it in densely populated areas. Telus and Bell generally share towers, but they also have some they don't share, and when you count those I believe bell has more. I am the same as you, go suckered into Rogers by a sexy phone.


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