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Confirmed: iPhone Exclusive to Rogers Wireless in Canada
gizmodo.com — iPhone confirmed for Canada, by a customer service email. "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."
skored- 822 diggs
- digg it
- unloud, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26lmao. Digg for the picture
- trghpy, on 10/12/2007, -15/+5Won't you be my neighbor?
After verizon buys Rogers it'll be...
Won't you hear me now? - abid786, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6It's cool because "in 1963, Fred Rogers moved to Toronto, where he was contracted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to develop a 15 minute children's television program: Mister Rogers, which would be his debut in front of the camera. The show was a hit with children, but only lasted for three seasons on the network. Many of his famous set pieces, such as the trolley, Eiffel Tower, the 'tree', and 'castle' were all created by designers at the CBC.
- BortQ, on 10/12/2007, -6/+20How ***** lame is this story? Roger's is the only Canadian carrier that uses GSM. Of course they are getting the iPhone. Every person with a clue knew that as soon as Apple said GSM.
- sishgupta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It was always possible that we wouldn't get it at all or that other mobile telcos would upgrade their networks.
- mastahack, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2rogers pwns!
- jb978, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6screw Bell and the lame-ass beavers!
- imcquill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Sure, Rogers is the only GSM carrier in Canada. So, in a sense, it is no surprise. But the good part about this announcement coming so quickly after the announcement of the iPhone is that it might mean that Apple got the deal they wanted from Rogers.
After all, we *still* don't have TV shows on iTunes. - neocitron, on 10/12/2007, -7/+7actually Fido is another Canadian GSM carrier
not so quick there sparky - dBLiSS, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@BortQ
Fido uses it too. But, everyone knew Fido wouldn't get the exclusive since the use rogers' towers. - Pulse_Instance, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@neocitron - either Fido is owned by rogers or they use rogers networks. I can't remember which one it is.
- Tirial, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6How is this news? There aren't any other gsm providers in Canada. Fido is owned by rogers.
- JeffD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9@Pulse_Instance & neocitrin
Rogers bought out fido a few years ago. - fudged71, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1rogers canada iphone data plan petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/iPhone99/petition.html
- trghpy, on 10/12/2007, -15/+5Won't you be my neighbor?
- royall64, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1On the contrary, is it possible that the object of your conversation will shred when deposited into a machine of some sort?
- LilBoyLuver, on 10/12/2007, -16/+0website in case anyone is interested http://www.rwireless.ca/ I would be interested in some opinions on their coverage quality.
- Opelious, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5That site is a dealer site. If you want the official Rogers site, its http://www.rogers.com then under Wireless. I would always recommend going to an official Rogers (Plus or Video) location when signing up anyways.
- smoothmedia, on 10/12/2007, -12/+6That cell phone is expensive, eh?
- n8dawg87, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9well duh. Rogers is the only GSM network in Canada. Except for Fido but no one is dumb enough to think it would be on that network (Rogers owns that anyways). And if you recall back into the 90's Rogers acquired AT&T's Canadian Wireless assets when they spun them off, so it would also kinda make sense in that way as well.
- Fhionnlaoch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I remember the old days, first it was Cantel, then Cantel AT&T, then Rogers AT&T, then Rogers Wireless.
- jb978, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2OMG! I remember those HUGE Cantel first cellphone!! HAHA thanks for the image in my head ;)
- apoc519, on 10/12/2007, -13/+5at least they're consistant. Sticking with the worst providers in each country
- aknowles5139, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I've had Rogers for a while and I've never had a problem with them. Great plans, not too expensive and a great variety of phones.
- flyingfox23, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15What are you talking about? Bell is the worst provider in Canada.
- anonydigg, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I've had Bell and I've had Rogers. They're both pretty bad but Rogers is much worse. Bell's quality is ok but they grill you on billing, Rogers is okay on billing but you can't use the damn thing.
- Ukghster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Bell and Rogers are bad. To pick the lesser of two evils Rogers is the good choice.
- CyrusG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Okay, Bell is pretty bad, but Telus is THE worst.
Please don't ask me for proof -- I'd rather not recall the painful memories.
- sum4me, on 10/12/2007, -16/+1I thought Cingular ahem...the new at&t owned Rogers???
- sishgupta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12You clearly know nothing of Canadian Telecom.
- Daniel001, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Why are they insisting on exclusive deals everywhere?
- K9Feldon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Apple is famous for its high level of customer service/satisfaction. However, with the iPhone, they are now suddenly partially, some might say extremely, dependent on another companies customer service experience. Apple wants to limit this risk by going exclusive, which enables them to demand a certain level of service from the wireless provider.
- KaneElson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I really don't know.
After I heard it was going to be hard for third party software devs etc... I got turned off it.
But if they try to only sell it with one provider down here in Australia they won't do as well as they could, we like our choice of network.....
Although, by the time it gets released down here everyone will have moved over to 3(.5)G anway :)
K9Feldon:
Are people really stupid enough to think it is the phones fault when there is a problem with the carrier ? Just let people buy it outright only and then there is no implied association with any provider... - flyingfox23, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4In Canada Rogers (since they own Fido) is the only GSM network and that means that by default their carrying the iPhone would be exclusive.
- superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They are going with GSM vendors only because they want to make the phone more world friendly (can use the same phone in more areas).
They are going exclusive because whatever network the phone works in needs to make modifications to support some services like Visual Voicemail, and possibly other features (like the IMAP push from Yahoo). This takes expense and time on the part of a carrier and they would want a guarantee of exclusivity in order to justify the expense.
Over time we may see unlocked iPhones, but that may require other carriers to implement changes and wait for exlcusive contracts to expire. - varaon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think the customer service and compatability reasons are right, but it's all part of the bigger picture - control. Just like iPod and iTMS work exclusively together and Apple controls both. Microsoft went with the open approach, and PlaysForSure failed. They've had moderate success with Zune by following the Apple model. The same also applies to Apple's desktops - Apple controls the OS and the hardware. iPod is nothing without iTunes. iMac is nothing without OSX. iPhone is nothing without whatever Apple's got planned for it. To implement the iTunes integration, etc. properly, they need control. By using as few providers as possible, the task is greatly simplified.
- themarq, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Thank the FSM. You just know that if TELUS had gotten their clumsy hands on it they would have disabled half the features. You'd be lucky to be able to browse WAP pages if it was on their network.
- bshellenberg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Why do you say that? I've got a utstarcom direct from Telus with all the features enabled (wifi, bluetooth, web access etc.). Or are you just flaming away without any real idea what Telus offers?
- themarq, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1No, I have some idea what I am taking about. Telus hardwires certain telus-specifc functionality into their phones to drive up user's data access costs. Since this comment is a day after the fact I won't bother going into details.
- orgazmo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Their current "cheap" data transfer plan is 95$ for 25 MB transfer and 7$ per extra MB... Have fun breaking through!
- flyingfox23, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Actually I hear that Rogers will be lowering their data charges this year. They might even introduce an unlimited data plan, they already have this option through Fido which is part of Rogers now.
- aristotle0dude, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2You are aware that free WiFi is quite prevalent in Canada in Coffee shops and restaurants in Canada are you not?
- aristotle0dude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ok, maybe I have to spell it out for you people. If you are relying on GPRS for your internet for things like movie streaming etc.. then you are a fool and deserve to pay through the nose. For simple email, I can understand some people needing to have access even away from WiFi but almost nobody in their right mind is going to use GPRS for data heavy stuff and will most likely take advantage of the abundant Free or cheap WiFi we have here in local coffee shops and restaurants.
I don't know how it is back east, but here in BC, we have either free or cheap WiFi hotspots in places like Serious Coffee, White Spot, Boston's Pizza. Just google it and you might be surprised what you will find.
I like to use Fatport when I'm in Vancouver with my laptop for my data needs meaning I really have no need for a cellular card for my laptop.
- ChrisrWilliams, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I hate Rogers, they have the worst service for internet and cell phones. I'm in Canada and quite frankly, this IS a problem.
- aristotle0dude, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Rogers is the only GSM provider in Canada. Fido is a subsidiary of Rogers.
- idean360, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You shouldnt say that, because it is different for every area. In Toronto they are the only choice when it comes to reception, my mom on Bell cant even get reception in the house, while im getting full reception. Same with people at school. Im full, they're "searching for network".
I find that they have the better phones as well, they were first to get the Treos, by a WHILE, same thing with other popular phones, such as the RAZR. - aristotle0dude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have never had a problem with either FIDO or Rogers and I was able to get a signal on the Sunshine coast north of Gibsons, BC while others on Telus were not able to get a signal.
- gabrielsond, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8This isn't really a surprise...Too bad Rogers has horrible service, horrible pricing, and horrible coverage outside of large centers (at least in western Canada).
- bigbadgoat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7And Eastern Canada. it is HORRIBLE here in Newfoundland. Forget good reception anywhere besides St. John's, and even then, it's not as good as their competitors. Rogers sucks.
- DGRP, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I'm not having trouble with Rogers....
Oh well... - ascian, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'll be the first to say that Canadian cellular providers have terrible pricing plans, particularly for data. (Note: Fido had pay per use data rates of 3cents/Kb for about 4 months, they are now raising it back to 5cents/Kb, compare this to .02cents/Kb on Verizon or even 2cents/Kb as they can't make up their mind).
However maybe it is because I'm in Alberta and the Oil & Gas patch has forced cellular carriers to blanket much of the province with a decent signal, although Telus has the best coverage in Alberta. Hundreds of thousands of monitoring devices all utilize the cellular network for monitoring and telemetrics.
On Fido, therefor the Rogers network, in Alberta I've never had a call quality or call drop issue that is so demonstrably reported in the US.
Customer Service is another issue all together. Hopefully this gets vastly more competitive soon, if you all look at your last/next bill you'll notice an updated Terms of Service/Service Contract that has been updated, finally, with verbiage surrounding Cellular Number Portability. Effective March all Canadian Cellular Carriers are mandated to have to relinquish control of your cellular phone number to another carrier of your choosing. Finally no more changing numbers when you change carriers.
There is a catch though, carriers aren't mandated to be able to bring in ported numbers until September, one would think that it would be in Roger's interests to have this functionality implemented and well tested before the iPhone launch.
- bigbadgoat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7And Eastern Canada. it is HORRIBLE here in Newfoundland. Forget good reception anywhere besides St. John's, and even then, it's not as good as their competitors. Rogers sucks.
- techlinks, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Well, Apple's gone a screwed themselves. The iPod is succesful because you deal with Apple the entire time you own the product. You probably get music from Apple, you use Apple's software to put that music on your iPod. Apple has control (well, mostly) over the whole process. With this they're going to get messed up. They can't possibly control Rogers' customer service, nor there insance fees. Sure iPods were expensive when they came out but when you bought it that's all you paid. No service charges, no misc charges, no 911 charges, so cancellation fees, no contracts.
And honestly, name one new thing about the iPhone. Really.- superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Multitouch gesture-based control. Visual Voicemail (new to cell phones at any rate).
Hint: You know it's new when carriers have to change the network to support it. - j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Visual Voicemail isn't new to cell phones. It may be *new* to America. When I think "Visual Voicemail" I think Video Voicemail. Which, by the way, is already on cell phones as well. The only thing that the networks have changed is now pushing the voicemail information to the cell phone. The call log on my Treo looks exactly the same as your Visual Voicemail.
That gesture-based control isn't going to make your cell phone better. Its better opted in a PDA.
- superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Multitouch gesture-based control. Visual Voicemail (new to cell phones at any rate).
- quazywabbit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1so are we going to hear about Orange picking up the iPhone for the UK?
- ryanfelix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9When it comes here, it's gonna be like $800 dollars... WITH A CONTRACT...
INSAAAAAAANE- jialuolu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2A freaking three-year contract
- n8dawg87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah I highly doubt Rogers will be giving away 18 months of service like the friendly neighbours might be doing...
- BZKyle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2ahaha, that picture was the most retarded thing Ive seen all day.
- macbookpromat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5OMFG
Way to ruin the iPhone Apple! Rogers is a ***** scam, they rape you for money, money, money, and more money. - Justin6512, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2ALRIGHT!!! I'M A ROGERS CUSTOMER AND I WANT THIS PHONE SO MUCH
YIPPPPEEEE
now I know how all the cingular customers feel :D:D:D:D
haha screw you Telus/Bell- flyingfox23, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3You seem surprised, did you not realise before hand that Rogers is the only provider in Canada that is a GSM network and therefore the only one who can carry the iPhone?
- chattin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I'd just like to agree the "Bell Sucks" statement. Bell Canada is an awful cell phone provider. Rogers is also an awful ISP since it's begun it's torrent throttling. Though I've heard bad things about Rogers Wireless before, the majority of my family and friends use Rogers for their cell phones and have no complaints. I'm already borderline switching to Rogers anyway, so this just gives it that extra push.
- flyingfox23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Bell does suck, when I had them they had a habit of screwing up my bill in their favour. Currently I have telus and i have noticed a few spots in my area where I get absolutely no signal at all. As for Rogers, my mother is with them and she never has a problem with the bill getting screwed up and she has absolutely no signal problems.
- nivek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I had Bell for a bit....Payment for a bill was missed by a day...They totally cut off your service untill you get it resolved. Whenever you try to make a call, they redirect you to their billing department...And then heaven forbid you try to make a call on weekends....Because the billing department is closed then.
- n8dawg87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'd somewhat agree with that comment as well. But here's my deal: Rogers = $350 per month + w/3 phones || Bell=$180 per month w/4 phones. So as bad as Bell phones are and as much as they screw up billing I still can't complain about the money my family has saved. Oh and you are so right about the billing thing. Its a MAJOR pain, they thought we weren't making our payment when we clearly were so they cut my families phone service off for 3 days! ANNOYING BELL...
- supermanred, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2AWESOME!!! Im already on Rogers!! GREAT SUCCESS!!!!
- IMA_Sellout, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here's the deal though... It'll be on Rogers for about 1-2 years and then it'll open up to the other providers. It always happens that way. I mean, you can get a RAZR on Virgin Mobile Canada now. So if we just give it time it will be contract free and shiny.
Also it will be in the $799-999 range. Not so shiny.- j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Digg for the shiny. You can't stop the signal.
- nbcivic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1pic ahahha
mr rogers and iphone=ownage in any country - theGOG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2they already confirmed it to me, weeks ago.
- IggyPop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Friggin Rogers, soon enough their going to own everything here. Which wouldn't be too terrible I guess. Better than ***** telus, or bell.
- IMA_Sellout, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Own everything... you mean like
1. Rogers Cable
2. Rogers Video (the other blockbuster)
3. Rogers Broadband
4. Rogers Wireless
5. Rogers Skydome
6. Rogers Toronto Blue Jays
7. Rogers Telecom
8. Rogers G4techtv Canada
9. Rogers Sportsnet
Well... that's all i can think of off the top of my head. - TRENT310, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Don't forget the Rogers Communications radio stations. Unless Rogers Telecom somehow covered that.
- IMA_Sellout, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Own everything... you mean like
- RK77, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Cool, now only if Rorgers didnt suck, that would be great.
- SirZRX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"How ***** lame is this story? Roger's is the only Canadian carrier that uses GSM. Of course they are getting the iPhone. Every person with a clue knew that as soon as Apple said GSM."
Canada only has one GSM carrier? o.O?!! - BlueJunglist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Amusing that it's a picture of Fred Rogers when Ted Rogers is chief executive of Rogers.
- ch28kid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I am not surprise because Rogers has contract and Fido doesn't
Since Apple picked Cingular in the US with 2 year contract, it was pretty obvious Apple will pick Rogers in Canada.
The whole contract idea doesn't even match Fido business model.- Justin6512, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ummm, Bell, Telus, and other carriers in canada also use contracts
- ronfez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I hope they have a nice data plan like the $20 Unlimited Hiptop data plan from Fido. (Hiptops are Sidekicks BTW)
Speaking of Hiptops, perhaps the iPhone is why Fido discontinued the Hiptop2 and never picked up the Hiptop3. Well that, and the RIM Pearl. - Jangles, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1***** Rogers!
No Telus means I am sad. - eguez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Complaining about cell phone companies is so old.
I'm on Rogers, never had a problem, and as far as the plans go they're pretty much the same. Sure sometimes the other carriers have bonus minutes or gifts or whatever but they are typically matched by Rogers within days.
And it's really silly to compare U.S. service plans to Canadian ones. U.S has more competition so naturally prices are more competitive and besides it's not like the plan is availible to you anyways.
Rogers/Fido being the only GSM carrier in Canada they have the technological edge over Bell and telus. I seriously doubt there would ever be a CDMA version.- steal_apps01, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thank you, finally someone making sence, Most electronics and services in Canada are alot more expensive because we don't have the same competition as the US people do, besides i'm on Bell with family plan, I won't switch just for the iPhone.
- buckuncle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I'll have to admit my 30$ bell plan is amazing
Can anyone beat this:
200 day time
100 long distance
free after 6pm and weekends
free caller ID, voicemail, 3 way, and text message, and unlimited bell mobile - vrillco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This means I'm not getting an iPhone, simple as that. ***** rogers. Really that's the only way to say it. They are the most ignorant, short-sighted hypocritical understaffed ***** of a telecom on the continent. I am so fed up with them that moving to the USA and switching to Comcast (of all things) would probably be an improvement. Their services are misadvertised, and their blunders are blamed on "automated systems", so that's why a flawless customer of 8 years will immediately receive a written warning of disconnection if they're 5 days late, and calling customer service will only result in some ignorant untrained service rep verbally abusing you and best of all, refusing to let you speak to a supervisor. Given how much they're likely going to charge for the iPhone and its service plan, I'd rather buy some poor african kid a machine gun than give more money to Rogers' evil cartel. At least the trigger-happy child won't lie about what he'll do with the money.
- iflex, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Check Out
http://www.iphonecanada.net
Good Forum for the wanna-be users
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