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Toronto - last Friday Rogers Communications announced their rates and plans for the Apple iPhone 3G which will hit the market July 11th.

Rogers is offering service with a minimum of 3 years on a service contract.

US carrier AT&T is offering service with a 2-year minimum contract.

Both Carriers are announcing data service along with their service plans, but none of the Canadian Carriers are offering unlimited service, which seems extreme considering the high cost for the service.

Rogers is offering a plan that gives 2 gigabytes of data in its largest plan, which translates to 16,000 web pages viewed, but with the price of a cellular phone, and the anticipation and hype being given to the Apple 3G iPhone there should be a listing or option of unlimited data service.

Many consumers while looking forward to the new Apple 3G iphone they are still wary, it appears to be a phone that has a steep price tag in terms of usage, and mandatory contract.

Contrast this to Australia, which has a much smaller population base than Canada, where the iPhone 3G from Apple is being offered for use and sale without any mandatory contract and it makes one wonder why Canada consumers are not able to have the same type and level of service?

This past weekend Canadians from coast-to-coast signed an online petition at ruinediphone.com to protest the Rogers iPhone data plans.

“At first, I was so excited that Rogers was offering the iPhone. However, unfortunately I will not be able to afford to use the iPhone to its full capabilities so it’s not worth it anymore. I wish Canadian mobile phone companies offered prices that are comparable to other countries,” wrote one petitioner.

On Monday Rogers backpedaled somewhat (perhaps in response to the petition) and said that the announced plans are not the only ones the company is going to offer.

“The [prices announced Friday] are only the plans that we think make the most sense for users,” said spokesperson Elizabeth Hamilton.

Canadians will be able to purchase the iPhone on July 11th.