iPhone coming to Canada; 7.4 million subscribers available

Updated: Rogers Communications said Tuesday that it has a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada.

In a terse announcement, Rogers, the largest wireless provider in Canada, made the announcement and said little else. Here's the full-text:

Ted Rogers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rogers Communications Inc. today issued the following statement:

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.

In Rogers earnings release, the company noted that it will have more iPhone information about availability and service plans "at a later date."

Apple fans in Canada should be pleased. As for the lowly scribes out there, a little more detail would have been nice.

Update: The Rogers pact isn't a huge deal--China Mobile is the Holy Grail--for the iPhone, but it is notable because it's the first of what is likely to be many announcements on the international front.

Last month, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicted that Apple would ship 45 million iPhones by the end of 2009. Most of his thesis was based on international expansion. According to his chart, Rogers represents a market of about 7.2 million wireless subscribers. As of March 31, Rogers had about 7.4 million total wireless subscribers.