Chris Sorensen
Business Reporter

Wireless giant Rogers Communications Inc. continues to be buffeted by rumours as it prepares the Canadian launch of Apple Inc.'s much-ballyhooed iPhone on Friday.

With criticism of its iPhone rate plans simmering for over a week in some quarters of the Internet, a high-profile website that focuses on Apple gossip took things a step further yesterday when it claimed Apple was "disgusted" with Rogers' approach and is responding by shelving plans to sell the iPhone in its Canadian Apple stores.

But it's not clear whether Apple actually planned to sell the iPhone in its Canadian stores in the first place.

Unlike the United States, the iPhone is not available in Canada without a contract through Rogers or its Fido subsidiary.

"Apple stores don't have our activation systems and it needs to be purchased with a plan," said Rogers spokesperson Liz Hamilton.

She added that Rogers would announce retail availability today that would be "unchanged from our original distribution plans."

A representative for Apple in Canada declined to comment about claims the two companies were at odds over the iPhone's Canadian pricing. Apple's Canadian website indicated yesterday customers will only be able to buy the iPhone at Rogers or Fido stores.

Earlier this month, Rogers unveiled iPhone rate plans that began at $60, plus fees and taxes, for 150 minutes of weekday talk time and 400 megabytes of data.

While that's cheaper than existing Rogers plans for competing devices such as Research In Motion's BlackBerry lineup, it's not as generous as the plans offered in the U.S. by AT&T Inc.

Some prospective iPhone buyers have voiced their displeasure on a Web-based petition that, as of yesterday, claimed more than 50,000 signatures, although its impossible to know whether they are all from Canadians.

Industry insiders say Rogers may have misjudged the public's mood, but the dust-up is unlikely to have much impact on iPhone sales.

One of the difficulties when it comes to evaluating the value of the Rogers plans is the lack of a clear standard when it comes to determining how much data the average iPhone user is likely to burn through.

The iPhone's focus on mobile Web browsing and multimedia make it more data hungry than most cellphones, but even the entry-level 200 megabyte plan would allow subscribers to view between 1,400 and 3,400 Web pages a month.

John Henderson, an analyst at Scotia Capital, said in a recent research note that most iPhone users won't come close to exceeding their data-usage cap.