Rogers announced along with their quarterly earnings that they will be bringing the iPhone to Canada later this year after more than a year of speculation. Yippie? No.

The reason Rogers is so late to the iPhone game is that they run a monopoly on GSM (the cell technology the iPhone uses) and were able to play the waiting game until Apple would come to terms on an agreement. Apple has been very aggressive in its demands with other service providers and used the popularity of the device as leverage to get a cut o subscription revenues. I expect a similar deal was reached with Rogers, and the timing of this deal is rather curious.

There are rumors that a new version of the iPhone is going to be released in June. Don’t be surprised that as US consumers line up to get iPhone 2, Canadians are offered the old one as a substitute. Just be happy you have an iPhone, Rogers will say. 

Then there’s the monthly fees.

AT&T offers plans with unlimited data usage starting at $59.99. Rogers is nowhere near as competitive and it wouldn’t be unexpected if they don’t package the iPhone with a reasonable plan. They have no competition and no incentive to offer one.

So even though many Apple fans in Canada are jumping up and down with joy, don’t be surprised to be given a big ol’ smack to the head, courtesy of Rogers, when the details are announced.