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Telus, Bell to get the iPhone in Canada

The Rogers-only era in Canada is coming to an end. Telus and Bell will both offer the iPhone beginning in November.

Jim Dalrymple Special to CNET News
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to record music using a Macintosh. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. He currently runs The Loop.
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Jim Dalrymple

Many Canadians are cheering as Telus and Bell announced plans Tuesday to begin selling Apple's popular iPhone, ending Rogers reign as the exclusive iPhone carrier in Canada.

After completing a $1 billion upgrade so its network could support high-speed packet access (HSPA) used by the iPhone, Bell and Telus will both begin offering the iPhone in November, the companies said in separate statements.

Neither company provided any further details on pricing or an exact launch date for the device in Canada. Both companies will offer the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, according to the statements.

As the Financial Post points out, until the network upgrade was completed, Bell and Telus both ran on CDMA networks, which is not compatible with the iPhone.

Rogers had a rough start when adding the iPhone 3G to its roster last year. The company drew the ire of users when it refused to offer an unlimited data plan like the ones available in the U.S. from AT&T.

Rogers finally broke down and offered users an (almost) unlimited plan a month later, but by that time it was too late. Users across the country began to organize petitions and Web sites like RuinediPhone.com to protest against the company.