[jeffknee]

But how else can Canada pay for their universal healthcare system, if not from exorbitant retail pricing (to allow some kind of profit for Rogers after taxes)?
Get used to it, America, it might happen here too...after Nov.

[dbater]

I guarantee you that all iPhone will be sold in Canada on day one. There will be enough people willing to pay the price for the iPhone and the service. Of course there will be even more people who don't have the money or won't pay the money for it. As long as people are buying Ted Rogers will keep the price where it is. I already have one and the only feature I would be adding to my list is visual caller id, not that important to me. I am one of the people willing to make Ted richer and not feel bad about doing so. $100 a month, people send that on other vises and justify it.

[inpitlane]

The situation is no better here in Australia , it's the same with Internet plans. I'm afraid the market in places like Australia, Canada and NZ is probably not considered big enough to force companies into the sort of deals that are common in the US, Asia and Europe.
Or perhaps it's just the Queens fault. Yeah that's it, the bloody Queen.

[jwdav]

One thing that always gets overlooked in comparisons is that all AT&T's minutes are nationwide minutes (ie: no long distance charges) and on top of that, unused minutes roll over to the next month.
That alone is a huge difference - add in unlimited mobile to mobile with AT&T and the outrage of paying $7-20 for call display with Rogers and it borders on outrageous.

[Fawzi]

Yes, the problem is that Rogers has no competition that also uses a GSM network.
And this is another creature fabricated by the CRTC which allowed Rogers to buy Fido (the only other GSM carrier...). Thus creating a GSM monopoly here in Canada...
Aren't there laws against that ?

[berik]

Down here in Mexico Apple's partner is Telcel. The Plans are similarily priced than in Canada... for example, the most expensive plan, the "iPhone III" goes for 75 CAD approx. with 400 minutes, 200 SMS and 200MB of data... and you can add the "Unlimited 3G data plan" for another 65 CAD, but for Telcel "unlimited" means a maximum of 3GB / month and after that your data rate is degraded to 128kbps... ranging from 45 to 75 CAD, in the 3 plans you have to pay 200, 330 and 450 CAD respectively for the iPhone with a 24 month contract... fortunately, in Mexico everything is Tax-included...
With "similary" priced I meant, it's cheaper here, but you receive less... they're equivalent.
If you want your iPhone without the 24-month contract, you can pay the 800 bucks Telcel is willing to charge for it...
A local newspaper noted that "users are being discouraged as soon as they know about the plans..." and an economist recomended to wait for 3 months... until the initial euphoria is gone and the prices drop down... a little bit.
Telcel is abusing its dominant mkt position, but as far as I can tell it's the best provider in Mexico... I've never had a problem with them.
Mexico has a peculiarity when it comes to flashy things... if you ask anyone, they'll tell you that "the economy is in really bad shape, everything is getting more expensive every day", of course, with an iPhone / LG Prada / Blackberry in the hand, the latest iPod in the pocket and a brand-new car...
And no, Mexico is not what you see in the news and movies... usually they show the worst things, not how most of us live.

[magwa999]

Sounds great, but like everything else you will all cave and buy the iphone. None of you have guts, lots of chest beating. When it comes down to it you all just want all the toys and have no sense of self. Please spare us your pouting comments and just go buy it............

[jldinsdale]

Complete rip-off, but it's not like we have many options.

[walfy]

Yeah, that's right! I want cheap iPhone service at the expense of my brother not getting healed when sick! If he gets sick and then healed just in time by getting help from a good doctor and my iPhone service costs go up, I don't know if I could ever get used to that!

[zetal]

you people are blinded by iphone. Sure, it's a very nice gadget, and as much as I Mac fanatic, I'll never ever get a gadget whose main purpose is a P-H-O-N-E....
The rest of the features are 99% u-s-e-l-e-s-s!
Think a little...why the hell would you use the stupid tiny mickey-mouse screen to see your photos, or to watch a video ???!!
Is it that important? NO. Can't you do this at home?
To read the stupid useless news? can't you listen to the freakin news on the radio in your car? I'm sure you do this too.
ask yourself do you really need to read news? is it SO important? do you really need other useless features?
It's a nice gadget, BUT I'd never pay rogers more than A&T. NO WAY!

[ct77]

If you want to understand why the Rogers rate plans in Canada are so bad, here is a concise comparison:
http://getthefactsonrogersiphone.com/
The site also draws attention to Bill C-555, which aims to make cell phone service less expensive for all Canadians, not just iPhone lovers.

[philomath777]

And don't forget Roger's infamous $7.95/month "System Access Fee." What a bunch of thieves...
Here's a good article on the subject by Michael Geist, an expert on telecom, from the Toronto Star:

[palane]

dbater - There are reports that Apple has diverted iPhones to Europe that were meant for Canada. Pressure on the parent (or supplier) also works.



With regards to the "toy" status, that's just silly.Try listening to the radio on a subway. My wife got a Touch to replace her late, unlamented Palm and watches videos that she's handbraked. It also makes a quite respectable PDA. If it doesn't turn your crank, great, don't buy one. The claim that an iPhone (or its cousin, the Touch) is a useless toy is demonstrably wrong.

And finally, one off topic post for Jeffknee, we spend more on health care here in the States than is spent in Canada.Keep to the topic (and I'll take my own advice in future).

[philomath777]

Duh... the segway re: universal healthcare has nothing to do with this.

(I'll take the compassion of Canadian healthcare any day - my brother lives in the U.S. and has told me of the expense there of trying to run a company and the "rationalization plans" of the private health plans, suggesting he lay off employees with diabetes, etc. - maybe you need to watch "Sicko")