The iPhone and the Canadian cell phone market

Even though today Time Magazine labelled the iPhone the invention of the year I've not yet felt the urge to jump on the iPhone bandwagon.

One interesting result thing that popped up in the paper's was the sign that Canadians are paying an awful lot for their cell phones:

The iPhone will hit Europe this week, and at prices that are likely to put pressure on Rogers Communications Inc. to cut its cellphone rates if it wants to be the carrier that eventually brings the popular device to Canada

European carriers will offer service plans that start at the equivalent of $70 a month. A rough calculation based on Rogers' current fees for its existing cellphone services indicates that similar features are more than double the price here, based on the cheapest plan.

... But wireless carriers in the United States, Britain and Germany had to adjust their packages of services to get the opportunity to sell the coveted iPhone. So the phone's arrival in Canada may not be entirely up to Apple. Rogers may have to make concessions, either by slashing data prices or finally embracing the idea of WiFi for cellphones.

(From the Globe and Mail)