Bell & Telus to Launch iPhone in Canada [Rogers Loses iPhone Exclusivity; iPhone 3G & 3GS Available in November from Bell & Telus]

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We have good news for all those Canadians interested in getting an iPhone 3G or 3GS. Rogers iPhone exclusivity deal has expired which compelled Apple to reach agreements with both Telus and Bold. These carriers will both sell the iPhones starting with November.

In case Rogers Wireless is not your favorite Canadian carrier then you should be happy to see Bell and Telus getting into the iPhone business. Both carriers have acknowledged officially the agreements signed with Apple. Their short, to the point, press releases indicate that the iPhone 3G and 3GS are coming in November. But neither Bell nor Telus want to tell us more at this point. The press releases do not reveal actual release dates, pricing details or plans.

The news is even more exciting for Bell. As you already know the carrier has deployed a nationwide HSPA network on top of its current 1xRTT EV-DO Rev. A overlay. The official network of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will now be able to offer one of the hottest phones on the planet, the iPhone. Bell customers will be able to enjoy a reliable phone working in a high-speed HSPA network so it would seem that Bell has a small edge over Telus.

But don’t be fooled folks as Telus’ network is also a very dependable one. Telus has been also deploying HSPA in preparation for LTE so buying an iPhone from Telus is surely going to be a good move.

What about Rogers? Should you disregard it completely? Not entirely. The carrier could adopt a different strategy come this November when both Telus and Bell will launch their iPhone offers and plans. We could see better iPhone prices and plans from Rogers too but it’s too early to tell.

So far we’ve seen O2 and Rogers lose iPhone exclusivity deals in the UK and Canada. Orange and Vodafone in the UK and Bell and Telus in Canada have all announced their intention to sell iPhones in the near future. Is this a trend we see here? Should AT&T feel threatened in any way? Will we see Apple terminate AT&T’s exclusivity deal soon? Fortunately for AT&T, its main competitors are running CDMA networks so Apple would have to make a new iPhone version for both Verizon and Sprint while T-Mobile’s young 3G network will probably not be enough for iPhone customers. That said, it looks like AT&T is safe for the moment but that doesn’t mean things won’t change in the more distant future.