Belus to get iPhone Next Month?

According to an unnamed report from an unnamed source, Canada's the dynamic duo of telecom Telus and Bell will begin to offer Apple's iPhone when the exclusivity agreement with Rogers ends in November. Upgrades to Canada's two largest CDMA based networks to HSPA will allow Telus and Bell to offer the iPhone or any other HSPA based smartphone.

That would at least give most Canadian iPhone users choice of carriers, wherever Bell or Telus operates the incumbent CDMA network. Telus subscribers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba will not get a chance to get an iPhone. In Saskatchewan incumbent carrier Sasktel is planning to upgrade their network to another technology UMTS which is in direct competition, and in Manitoba MTS is making their upgrade to HSPA in conjunction with Rogers Wireless.

Since both Telus and Bell see Rogers as their biggest competitor, how likely would it be that they would have to operate under a roaming agreement with Rogers. Some within both Telus and Bell would see it as a deal with the Devil. Telus' market share in Manitoba and Saskatchewan has been low compared to the incumbent carriers, and Bell has no market share in those provinces since they do not even offer service in neither Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Telus and Bell will likely will wait it out until Globalive or Dave Wireless builds their cellular networks in the provinces.

This rumor of the iPhone coming Telus and Bell would be good for most Canadians, some of us will be left with the status quo.