The Long Wait for the iPhone

Want to know why no one’s quite sure when the iPhone is going to be available in Canada?

According to Michael Geist, Canada research chair for the Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, it’s high prices for wireless service in Canada – a situation created by the lack of competition.

In a National Post story that smells and feels like a slow, summer news day, Geist said the iPhone will be a major marketing and pricing challenge for Canadian carriers because there is so much data usage involved to do things such as Web browsing and video streaming.

As everyone knows, data has been a pot of gold for Canadian carriers. You only have to look at the enthusiasm of wireless executives when they talk about high-margin data services such as SMS, ringtones, games and, of course, the Blackberry. With so much demand and juicy profits, there is no such thing as data bargains in Canada.

Then again, there’s little competition so why would any carriers do any so consumer-friendly as offer deals on data.

In the U.S., healthy competition has been a good thing for consumers. AT&T, for example, offers a US$59.99 a month plan that includes 4,450 voice minutes (nearly 75 hours or two hours a day) and unlimited data downloading.