Rogers announces iPhone 3G packages

Voice and data plans for Apple Inc.'s much-anticipated iPhone 3G will start at $60 per month when the smartphone hits Canadian stores on July 11, Rogers Wireless said Friday.

For $60, consumers get 150 minutes of voice calling, with unlimited evenings and weekends; 400 megabytes of data; 75 sent text messages, with unlimited incoming text messages and visual voicemail messages.

A $75 package nets 300 minutes of calls, 750 MB data and 100 sent text messages while a $100 plan will get you 600 minutes of calls with 1 GB of data and 200 sent text messages.

The most expensive plan, at $115, pays for 800 minutes of phone calls, 2 GB of data and 300 sent text messages.

There is also a system access fee of $6.95 a month. The packages all come with a mandatory three-year contract, according to Rogers and its Fido wireless unit.

The eight-gigabyte iPhone 3G has improved on the original iPhone by adding several new features, such as GPS tracking, and running on the faster third-generation, or 3G, cellphone networks.

It will be sold in 70 countries this year, including Canada. Apple has sold six million iPhones since it launched in the U.S. a year ago, and it has set a goal of 10 million by the end of this year.

Rogers Wireless is the only Canadian carrier currently using the GSM (Global System Mobile) communications standard for mobile devices — the same standard the iPhone uses — versus the competing and incompatible CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) standard.

However, Rogers is not believed to have an exclusive deal with Apple so potentially, new carriers that enter the market and adopt the GSM standard in the future would also be compatible with the iPhone.