The apocalypse has come if you’re a Rogers executive. The closest thing to a cash cow that Rogers has is now going to be available with their chief rival Bell. In a tersely worded statement, Bell announced that the iPhone was coming to Bell in November. How tersely worded? Try this:
MONTREAL, ON, Oct. 6 2009 — Bell and Apple have reached an agreement to bring iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS to Canada this November. To learn more about Bell’s new 3G network, please visit bell.ca/network or bell.ca/reseau.
That rivals the rather terse statement put out by Rogers when they announced the availability of the iPhone. In any case, Canadian fanbois are jumping for joy over the news as they like other Canadians want competition in the wireless market. Of course there’s the little matter of what the data plans will cost. You’ll recall that Rogers kind of bungled that part when they brought out the iPhone. Hopefully Bell doesn’t make the same mistake.
So Rogers, what are you going to do to keep your customer base from defecting en masse and affecting your profits? I can’t wait to see what you come up with because if you don’t come up with something compelling, you’ll be facing a stampede of customers running towards the nearest Bell store.