Rogers have listed the Blackberry® Bold™ 9700 for sale online on their website.
The sharp eyed will notice that their advert (don’t know how long this link will work – as they seem to change their site linking regularly) says “Curve” and not “Bold”, but this is clearly a typo. Have to wonder why they would not take more care, particularly with such a much anticipated phone here in Canada, and with potentially killer competition from Bell and Telus, who both have new HSPA networks, and will no doubt be selling this same device within a couple of days here in Canada.
Other interesting things to note is that you have to enslave yourself to a full 3 years to qualify for the $299.99 subsidized price, and of course, this price is only available on a new service activation, and not on an upgrade. I am not much of a businessman, but I do know that it is much cheaper to retain a customer than to acquire a new one, so this strategy (which Telus and Bell both seem to use as well) has always amazed me.
The un-encumbered price is $599.99, which is interesting as the no-contract price for a Bold 9000 is $649.99 while the subsidized price with a new activation is only $99. This makes me think that Rogers seem to think that they will be selling more of these on the no-contract price than on the subsidized price. They may well be right, since I think a lot of Bold 9000 users with phones that are in fairly good shape will be listing them on eBay in the hopes of buying this one for around $300 extra.
A check on eBay reveals that 9000′s in good condition are selling for around $300 unlocked (and unlock will cost you about $30) so that means for the $300 subsidized price offered by Rogers and the $300 you sold your old phone for, gives you access to a brand new one, without a contract. Definitely a better deal, considering you are then free (presumably) to port to either Telus or Bell in the not too distant future if you can find a more friendly plan from them.
Update: Bell have already listed the 9700 for sale in their website and at $70 less than Rogers on a 3–year term
