14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, Cupertino-based Apple announced the upcoming availability of a new tablet PC, the iPad 2, which is set to arrive on shelves in the United States on March 11th, and which should be released in more markets starting with March 25th, including Canada, where users would be able to enjoy this device's capabilities on the airwaves of many carriers.
Three of them already confirmed plans to offer monthly data plans for those users who would aim at purchasing a new iPad 2, namely Bell, Rogers and TELUS.
What's interesting to note is that none of the three wireless carriers mentioned specifically that the iPad 2 would be available for purchase via their own stores.
However, they did say that plan options would be available for users, though Rogers was the only one to confirm that the same options that were available for iPad would be in place for the iPad 2 as well.
“We will also continue to offer the same two data plan options for the iPad 2 – both of which are available without a term contract and include free unlimited access to all Rogers WiFi Hot Spots:250 MB for $15 [and] 5 GB for $35,” the carrier notes.
As for Bell and TELUS, besides confirming that they would indeed offer data plans for the iPad 2, they were mum on the monthly options users would have at their disposal.
A recent article on IntoMobile notes that, most probably, Bell would offer the same $15 for 250 MB and $35 for 5 GB options as for the iPad (the same as Rogers), while TELUS would keep the 500 MB/month for $20 option.
All in all, it seems that Apple will not offer the iPad 2 in Canada via a single wireless operator, which means that it might not be carrier locked either.
As stated above, the tablet PC would arrive on shelves in the country on March 25th, with a dual-core application processor inside, back and front-facing cameras, and WiFi hotspot capabilities, and internal storage that ranges from 16GB to 32GB and 64GB.