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iPhone Coming to Canada

Post on 2008-06-05 by Steve

Last August, Cameron Johnson of Toronto, decided that since Apple was only offering iPhone’s in the United States he would take matters into his own hands. His mission was to drive to Buffalo, pick up two iPhones (one for himself and the other to be substantially marked up on Craigslist) and bring them across the border to claim his technological prize.

But at the border the guards noticed his iPhone’s in the backseat. "The one officer said to the other, 'Hey Ted, look! An iPhone!'" said Mr. Johnson, who manages a portfolio of online domain names. "And of course, they had to get rid of the grin and be serious with me. They said to me they had to seize [the iPhones] and I started blubbering."

Mr. Johnson wound up paying $400 and spent an hour in a holding cell. Luckily, sometime in the next couple of months Canadians won’t have to resort to Mr. Johnsons sort of tactics.

In a brief April statement, Ted Rogers announced that Rogers has a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year, he went on to say, "We can't tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned."

Rogers has long been rumoured to be the carrier for the iPhone in Canada because it is the only Canadian carrier using the Global System Mobile communications standard needed to run the iPhone. Telus and Bell use a different standard (the CDMA standard). The only surprise has been the delay in announcing the deal. The blogosphere has speculated that the delay was because Rogers did not want to offer unlimited data plans. But Tod Maffin, who writes a CBC tech column, thinks it has more to do with a trademark dispute Apple has had with Toronto-based Comwave over the name iPhone as well as the future 3G upgrade for Apple iPhones.

Whatever the cause of the delays, the good news is that iPhone fans in Canada will no longer have to sneak across borders with their techno-treasure but will soon (see rumours of a fall release) be able to get their hands on one legally in stores across Canada.

Cameron Johnson story found in the Globe and Mail at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070803.wgtiphone0803/BNStory/Technology