Am I the only one who's surprised about this week's article in the Toronto Star announcing that the iPhone 4 will be available unlocked and without a contract in Canada?
Canada! The land of three-year contracts and punitive price points.
This seems to be a big step for our restrictive and over-regulated telecommunications industry, and could herald a movement toward true mobility.
Canada is one of the only countries left where three year contracts are still the norm for cutting-edge handsets. As a friend pointed out yesterday, this is a bit of a conundrum for consumers, while ensuring sky-high profits for providers. The people who have the most interest in new gadgets are the ones who want to change often and remain ahead of the curve. They are also the ones who are faced with signing another three year contract when the product cycle comes around again, which is less than a year in most cases.
There are a few factors leading to this change, and all represent shifts in power away from the providers. First, there is more competition. With Bell and Telus combining on the 3G front, Rogers is no longer the sole provider of the most modern handsets. We also have Kodoo, Virgin, Mobilicity, Wind and a few other upstarts entering the market place.
Second, is the devices themselves. The must-have status of phones from Apple, Blackberry and Google have forced Canadian telecom companies to be more responsive to the manufacturers for fear of missing the boat on the industry's latest trend.
Finally, Bill C-32 provides some copyright protection for consumers this time, that no longer bars unlocking phones.
Soon owning a cell phone could be as easy as leasing a car. After all, if the windshield of your Toyota cracks and you take it to Apple Auto Glass, Toyota doesn't immediately void the warranty of your car.
Good point that those people who desire new phones are also more likely to switch quickly to a new device. Is bill C-32 the one that enabled new up-start cell companies to use existing cellular networks? I know that was a big stumbling block to bringing more competition to the Canadian market.
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