Rogers Retracts Statement Claiming it Will Carry the Apple iPhone in Canada

Last week we reported that Rogers would be the official provider for the iPhone in Canada, but that looks like it might not be the case. Well, sort of. Maybe. We don't know, because Rogers is retracting its statement, blaming it on miscommunication. Last week, we posted a link to a Gizmodo post that said a Rogers rep has confirmed that the iPhone will be available exclusively through Rogers in Canada. The post read: "Rogers is actively working with Apple to launch the iPhone in Canada as soon as possible and will be the exclusive provider of the iPhone in Canada." While Gizmodo was right in saying that a Rogers rep spilled the beans about the iPhone, we want to clarify one thing: Rogers does not stand behind that employee's leak. Sort of. We spoke with a Rogers rep today to confirm this announcement and ensure it wasn't a rumour. She told DigitalJournal.com the news actually came after someone in the company's call centre sent an email indicating Rogers would have the iPhone in its portfolio, but that person misspoke, as the company has not officially announced anything. That "big-oops" email ended up getting printed in dozens of newspapers across Canada, and thundered through the blogosphere. When prodded for more info, the Rogers rep simply told us "Rogers is the only GSM network in Canada, so make your conclusions however you want." That non-answer suggests that Rogers will in fact be the provider (the iPhone is a GSM phone), but it isn't officially announced. And Rogers is going out of its way to cover up this PR blunder. In a last-ditch effort to ensure all their bases were covered, we also received a statement via email which read: The email you are referring to did in fact come from Rogers customer service. The "actively working with" and "soon to launch" is not language that has been approved because we are not in a position right now to make such a statement. While Rogers is trying to save face, we'd like to propose the call centre employee gets a promotion: Chief Marketing Officer. What other wireless provider has seen this much media coverage in the last year?