This week Ottawa announced that there will be a three-week auction of several bands of wireless space, and the big three carriers aren’t allowed to bid on them either–The Canadian Press: Ottawa opens up Canada’s telecom industry to more competition.  The plan is for new carriers to come into the market and hopefully with more competition drive down prices.

Uh huh.

Here’s the problem: numbers.  We all know that Canada doesn’t have a huge population.  In order for a new company to survive its going to have to get enough customers.  To lure customers away from Telus, Bell, Rogers, they will have to offer much better plans.  That means tight profit margins…

I think you can see where this is going.

I’m all for cheaper rates and better data plans, but I’m not holding my breath that this will pull it off.

Yahoo has had a long-term relationship with Rogers and it’s online and mobile properties, while Bell has opted for MSN.  Announced last week, Yahoo and Rogers have renewed and expanded their strategic partnership–Yahoo! Inc. - Press Release.

While it might be easy to dismiss the importance of these deals, remember that the majority of Internet users never change their homepage or the installed default options that their ISP provides.

As far as mobile goes…well the same follows.  As mobile grows and mobile broadband grows…

Hmm wonder if the Yahoo homepage looks good on the iPhone.

Boy Genius is providing tantalizing details of the iPhone coming to Canada as early as December–Apple iPhone launching on Rogers December 7th? | The Boy Genius Report.  From this leaked image (click for larger version):

From this I’m going to guess that any data plan issues have been worked out.  Now the trademark dispute … that must be another matter.  Funny, why didn’t Apple see this coming?  Why didn’t they do a trademark search and try to resolve this long before launch?  Arrogance I think.  Hey, we’re Apple, we can buy them out or just take care of it.  Clearly, it hasn’t been a good plan, unless you want to keep everyone buzzing about your product and guessing when it will be released.

Hmm, shrewd.

As if a new Facebook app wasn’t enough for us Crackberry addicts…

As if Facebook wasn’t enough yesterday, we also got a Gtalk and Yahoo! chat client update up to version 2.0. After installing Gtalk here, there are decent upgrades, mainly displaying profile pictures, as noted by Robb, but I’m sure there’s plenty of other new features there that regular Gtalkers will readily spot. Source: Gtalk and Yahoo! BlackBerry clients updated | BlackBerry Cool

I went right up an downloaded them both, but I can’t get the YIM client to work (it says it’s installed…).  The Gtalk app looks like, noted, that it’s mostly an interface update.

Is this RIM trying to keep ahead of the iPhone?  Push out more native and useful apps head of Steve and the iPhone crew?  I think so, since while the iPhone is cool and has been hailed as the next big thing, the Blackberry still rules the roost for business applications.  This can all change in a heart beat if Apple starts releasing more apps and let’s third-parties develop cool tools for it.

I’m sure that my fellow blognation editor Oliver Starr has deeper insights into this, but seeing the raft of new mobile apps coming out these are some exciting times, but I will still content that it is going to be data rates that will be the major roadblock to mass adoption.

I found out about Facebook and RIM’s new Blackberry app before I read about it because I was given the option to download it when I checked Facebook on my Berry through the web browser.  Alas and alack, my joy was short lived because Telus, in it’s infinite wisdom is blocking the app from being downloaded and installed.

Also today, Research In Motion announced it is rolling out Facebook software for its BlackBerry, another data-intensive application. Judging by the way some people use Crackbook, as one wag I know calls it, this could bankrupt Canadian Facebook addicts. So it’s not surprising that RIM’s first customer for the service is T-Mobile USA, not a Canadian company. Source: globeandmail.com: Kapica’s Cyberia - Will easy data plans sell cellphones?

The quote from Jack Kapica is from a larger article about Nokia’s plan to get more people to buy (or upgrade) cell phones with better data plans.  Something Canadians would surely welcome.

Facebook on your Berry … that’s awesome.  Pity I can’t use it.

For more on this check out Marketwatch and Alex Saunders’ blog.

Only semi-unrelated to this is that RIM is now the largest company (by market valuation) in Canada.

Looks like Rogers will be bringing Canadians the iPhone in January 2008…well at least if you believe a contest that Molson is doing next year:

However, the contest has unveiled details to who will be carrying iPhone. In the contest’s English rules posted on its website, the device will be available beginning January 2008 on the Rogers Wireless network and valued at $800.

[snip]

Rogers Wireless spokeswoman Odette Coleman said that the company is the "absolutely not involved in a contest," but she would not confirm or deny whether iPhone would be available on its network.

"This is news to us," she said. "We heard the news this morning and said ‘What?’"

From Financial Post

Not surprising that Rogers is denying it.  Rather unsettling to have such a potentially big announcement spoiled by a beer contest.  Well we Canadians do love our beer and hockey (it’s not a stereotype, it’s a cultural thing) so it’s fitting isn’t it?

Update: David Jones has some insight and commentary on this whole little snit.

I saw from StartupSquad this morning, that Montreal-based MOBIVOX nabbed a major player from Skype to be their new COO:

Shaer joins MOBIVOX from IDG Ventures in Boston, where he was Entrepreneur-in-Residence responsible for identifying new investment opportunities in the telecommunications and consumer Internet industries. While at IDG Ventures Boston, Shaer was instrumental in securing several investments including MOBIVOX.

"The potential for this service is remarkable and I am excited to join the MOBIVOX team," said Shaer. "MOBIVOX is uniquely positioned to address the needs of millions of consumers looking for a seamless way to connect to the services and people they care about most. Free calls from any phone, any where is a revolutionary offering. I am looking forward to contributing to the continued growth of this innovative company." Source: MOBIVOX

Signing up for MOBIVOX this morning, no I hadn’t gotten around to it yet, I’ve been impressed with the easy of setting it up.  Okay I forgot my Skype password and had to reset it (I don’t know why a few of my contacts from Skype didn’t show up though), but still.  Since I have lots of friends, including BlogTalkRadio, who are long distance, this could be really interesting.

What I’m most interested in is comparing Lypp to MOBIVOX.  I signed right up for Lypp’s service and have really enjoyed it.

Essentially, I see MOBIVOX and Lypp doing what we’ve all needed them to do … free us from mobile phone long distance tyranny.  The question will be whose service works best and can sustain the longest.

Tod Maffin has it on good authority that there are only two real issues keeping the iPhone out of Canada:

If Rogers could get the deal from Apple, they’d take it.

The hang-up is two-fold:

1. Trademark dispute: Between Apple and ComWave, a company that owns the iPhone trademark in Canada for its VoIP products. Apple offered to share the trademark (i.e. “Apple iPhone” and “ComWave iPhone”) but ComWave seems to be holding out for cash from Apple.
   .
2. 3G upgrades: Apple is going to upgrade its iPhone to support the 3G network HSPA, recently launched by Rogers. Forward Concepts analyst Will Strauss leaked this first. Strauss says an HSPA version of the iPhone should be shipped sometime in the first quarter of 2008.

Source: Tod Maffin blog: todbits.com » Blog Archive » iPhone and Canada: The Real Story.

I was wondering about the 3G issue when I wrote about Rogers’ 3G announcement last week.  Well, if Rogers is waiting for 3G … we could get some kick-butt iPhone service up here.  Pair that with a great data plan … yeah, I’ll be eyeing the iPhone again.

After launching in late September I’ve been using Lypp for making long-distance calls on my cell phone.  Since the service has been free to try for October, there was no reason not to try it!  To refresh your memory, Lypp works by using an IM client on your phone (MSN, YIM, Gtalk, or AIM) or desktop to send a message to a bot like "call 6045551212" and then an instant conference call is set up between you and the caller.

Since most calling plans have free incoming calls (either unlimited or just counting against your regular minutes), having the Lypp service call you saves you additional long distance charges.

Dan from Lypp  told me last week about what was launched yesterday and well … let me get to the good stuff.

First they have announced a their calling plans.  For $9.95 a month (if you sign up before October 31, $12.95 after that) you get 250 minutes long distance in the US and Canada (you get an additional 100 minutes if you sign up before October 31 as well).  If you go beyond your allotted minutes, additional time is $0.08/minute (which is pretty darn good considering it’s a conference call).

Next cool thing … you can sync up your addressbook (I still have to do this) so instead of having to type "call [number]" you can type "call Dan" … if there is only one Dan then that person is called.

From my own use, man this is awesome.  I know I’ll be using Lypp to do BlogTalkRadio shows from the road.  Even with the roaming charge in the States, it’s still a huge money saver for me.  No more, "look I can’t call you when I’m in the States because it is so expensive".  Even calling to/from Vancouver won’t be a problem anymore.

For US folks, Sign up on the US Lypp site for Canucks, we have our own site, of course.

So I’m going to quit playing Lypp service to this, and finish setting up my account!

The big mobile news from up here this week wasn’t the iPhone, we’re still waiting thank you, was that Rogers launched their 3G HSDPA network across Canada this week:

The expansion announced today introduces Rogers Vision services for customers in Greater Vancouver, Kelowna, Victoria, Whistler, Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Ottawa/Gatineau, Kingston, Sudbury, Barrie, London, Kitchener/Waterloo, Guelph, Windsor, Greater Montreal, Quebec City, Chicoutimi and Trois-Rivières. Rogers Vision is already available in the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton/St. Catharines, Burlington/Oakville making this unique suite of services available to 60% of the Canadian population.  From Blackberry Cool

Being the uber cool guy he is–not to mention being in Vancouver–Tod Maffin had a chance to play with one of the new phones and the high speed network.  He made a great video of the whole interview–Rogers’ new high-speed network. I’m impressed.–and did put the Rogers rep on the spot asking about unlimited data plans (no joy, but 1 gig of transfer for $65/mo, which I wasn’t able to find on their site).

This makes me wonder, maybe Rogers is delaying the iPhone until there is a version that does a little better and using the out-dated EDGE technology?  Still I think if Rogers wants to make the iPhone a success, I think they need a special iPhone plan with either generous or unlimited data transfer.

The funny thing is I got my unlimited data plan on Telus for my Berry because there was a comparable plan on Rogers.  So the carriers can do it if so moved.  Guess what, I’m a really happy Telus customer because of it, and wouldn’t switch unless I got a better deal from another company.

Maybe in a short while I’ll get to test this 3G coolness for myself … woo hoo.