Rogers Communications yesterday said they have plans to bring the Apple iPhone to Canada before the end of this year.

"We're thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can't tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned," Rogers chief executive Ted Rogers said a statement.

It had long been speculated that Rogers would carry the iPhone, but now it appears the next generation 3G iPhone will be shipping sometime this year to Canada. Rogers is the only GSM provider in Canada, the wireless technology used in the iPhone. Neither Rogers or Apple have provided any information with regards to a release date. Apple has been involved in a trademark dispute with Comwave Telecom, Inc. over the term "iPhone". Comwave Telecom has been marketing a VOIP service using the registered trademark iPhone since 2004. When Apple announced the iPhone, CEO of Comwave Telecom Yuval Barzakay said, "There are tens of thousands of Canadians across Canada using the iPhone. It's an extremely successful product for us. And our plans are to forge ahead, unless we get legal opinion to do otherwise." Cisco is the owner of the "iPhone" trademark in the US and was able to reach an agreement with Apple prior to the launch of the iPhone in the US. It's likely that Apple will be able to reach an amicable agreement with Comwave Telecom prior to the official release of the iPhone in Canada.