Telus may charge a high enough premium for its version of the BlackBerry Storm that it no longer directly competes with its intended rival from Apple, a controversial leak from BGR claims. The touchscreen phone is now said by an alleged source to be priced at $300 CAD ($243 US) on a three-year plan -- as much as Rogers' high-end iPhone 3G with 15GB more storage and $43 US more than Verizon's pricing in the US for a shorter two-year term. Prices on shorter terms is characterized as ranging between $550 on a two-year plan to $650 for a contract-free, month-to-month plan. Rogers at present doesn't allow reduced contracts on iPhones.
The reason behind the purported price hike is unknown, though Telus like Verizon is believed to be hinging a large part of its holiday sales on the Storm's success and has already been marketing the device heavily despite having yet to commit to a firm release date. However, a $300 price would also likely vary depending on pricing from Bell, which announced its own version of the Storm just after Telus and should ship in a similar timeframe.
Telus has yet to comment on the claim, which if true would potentially hurt its performance against Rogers. Besides the iPhone, the latter carrier is also carrying the BlackBerry Bold as an exclusive and is selling it today for $200.
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