In my column introducing iPhone Central I made a joke (soon to repeated in our iPhone newsletter) about how the iPhone is being released at 6 p.m. “local time.” Residents of Hawaii, please stop complaining. You live in paradise — that’s worth a three-hour wait, I wrote.
Talk about touching a nerve. The other day there was a hysterical post on the Macworld Forums (since removed) suggesting that Apple was racist for not selling the iPhone in Puerto Rico. Today we received a (very polite) note from Ronald Flores of Puerto Rico:
A visit to an AT&T store… resulted in the news that the iPhone will not be released in Puerto Rico until “sometime late in August.” … I was consoled by the fact that it is not just another example of Puerto Rico (a commonwealth of the US) being treated by corporate America as a separate third world country, “It will only be available in the continental US on June 29,” I was told. Now I read in Macworld that it will actually be available in Hawaii three hours after its release on the mainland. Last time I checked, Hawaii is not part of the continental US. What gives? OK, so we live in paradise, too, but discrimination is discrimination at any time of the day.
It’s too late in the day for me to get an answer from Apple, but in digging I can’t find any information either way about if the iPhone is coming to Hawaii or Alaska. (Can my buddies in Ketchikan and Kailua help me out here?) And our hearts go out to everyone who doesn’t live in one of the 50 (or maybe 48) U.S. states who will be getting the iPhone on June 29.
But while it’s unfortunate that Puerto Rico isn’t getting the iPhone on launch day, I think calling it discrimination might be a bit harsh. Although I once gave a ninth-grade speech about the virtues of P.R. as our 51st state, the last time I checked Puerto Rico isn’t a state and its residents don’t have senators, congresspeople, or Electoral College electors.
Hmm. I guess not getting an iPhone is just the latest indignity visited upon the good people of Puerto Rico.
(Update: Hawaiian reports in the comments suggest that the iPhone will indeed be available in Hawaii, but it sounds like Alaska is a different story due to lack of official AT&T coverage.)
Alaska does not have Cingular service, and AT&T service is "through a partner" (Cellular Alaska Partnership d/b/a AT&T Wireless Services), and thus not true AT&T network services. Word here is that iPhone will not be available for that reason, at present time.
But it's okay. It's summer, 80 degrees, sunny till midnight...I think I can do without an iPhone for a little while.
As for the residents of PR having to wait. I feel their pain. A lot of things make it to Alaska later, despite us actually being part of the United States of America!
Aloha, from Hawaii.
Hawai'i will be getting iPhones.
I was driving home and looked in the Cingular/ATT store on Waialae Ave. in Kaimuki and there was a big iPhone poster hanging in the window.
Here in Kailua-Kona, Big Island Hawaii, the local ATT store has a large poster in the window of the iPhone, and yes, it is available on the 29th here at 6 PM HST.
I live in PR and there are numerous Apple fans in the island, we thought the iphone would debut here on the 29th. We have AT & T wireless service and some of their stores had waiting lists already. This week there was a FULL PAGE news article in the paper saying that for unknown reasons we were not included in the first phase for the iphone..by the way, there are also NO Apple stores here and NO way of ordering any items online from Apple.com. I guess we will wait. This is a tropical paradise in many ways, but this is not fair for Apple fans here
Assuming the PR ATT supports iPhone from day 1, couldn't our friends in PR use Apple.com to order iPhones since an Apple Store's not available??
3 hours? I don't understand that. Why are you suggesting they only have to wait from the time it sells in California? Seems to me I (in MN) have to wait one hour, California has to wait 3 hours, and Hawaii has to wait 6 hours. Perhaps you are planning to withhold coverage until sales begin on the west coast?
We will not be holding off coverage, Dave.
I too live in PR and have been an Apple fan for years. Sadly, not only we don't have Apple stores in PR, it's nearly impossible to buy any Apple related product through the internet (the only way posibble WAS PowerMax.com). Why? The answer i always get: "it's an Apple policy".
The only way we can get our Apple goodness is through third party vendors (which they sell expensively and treat customers like they're not worth the purchase) or through CompUSA (which in Apple service, they're a bunch of inepts). There was real hope that through AT&T we would get the iPhone, but seems "Apple's policy" got in the way. I wish Macworld could explore this issue because its pretty annoying, not to mention unfare.
I meant Hawaii has to wait three hours more than me.
Yes, they have to wait six hours compared to the people in NYC.
I don't live in Puerto Rico but visit there very frequently and want to support "luiggiesan" and others who complain about "Apple's policy" regarding the island.
As a long-time Mac user, I can't understand why Apple doesn't attempt to develop its market on the island. Puerto Rico isn't the country it was three or four decades ago. San Juan might have the highest per capita rate of Porsches, Jaguars, and Bimmers outside California, for example.
Apple should also contrast its "policy" with that of, say, Macy's or even JCPenney (the JCP store in Plaza Las Americass mall is reportedly the largest in the world).
Meanwhile, I have to get Mac products in the states for friends and family on the island and ship them there. Ridiculous.
Lucky you live hawaii (at least in honolulu). There's 2 apple stores and 6 att/cingular standalone stores that will be selling the phone. 8 fabulous locales to choose from in paradise. Personally tho, im gonna forgo going to the apple stores...I have a feeling they'll be uber busy.
I too live in PR. When they announced that AT&T/Cingular was going to be the carrier I thought we would finally get an Apple product at launch date.
See, Cingular has always launched new products simultaneously (that I can remember), RAZR, RKR, etc. same exact date.
I thought, "Ok, let's see what happens when one company who treats our market as any other state and another company who treats us as foreigners", now I know. This is why Puerto Rico is included in the list of places to call when you sign up for many US cell phone carriers.
To be fair, other corporations, like Adobe and Dell, do the same thing as Apple.
The interesting thing is that we get respect with some of the company products. For example, we are able to buy through the US iTunes store and .Mac services... but we can't buy a single license of QuickTime or AppleCare. And one last thing, we can't even Register our Apple products online, PR doesn't show up as a state, territory or country.
Good thing they haven't figured out that PR gets Federal Funding for our schools... the Apple Education program would have had been here a long time ago.
:)
It is possible that all those cingular and ATT stores in Puerto Rico are not corporate stores. In that case Apple will not risk giving its phones to an independent who may start selling them before they are supposed to go on sale. Looking through a list of cingular stores in San Juan, not one says it is corporate owned.
I was wondering if anyone knows when the iPhone will be available in Canada.
tks
Ron
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Anyoune know if the iPhone docking port is the same as the other iPods? Looking to see if it's compatible with the Mini Cooper iPod interface that my wife is about to get.
BaltoBernd: Apple has said it's an "iPod dock port," but hasn't officially talked about compatibility with existing iPod accessories. That's one of the first things I'll be in charge of testing on Friday :-)
Balto: The recently-posted 20 minute introduction/infomercial video posted on the iPhone refers to the port as an "iPod connector", and it sure looks the same from the close-up picture shown in the video. I guess we will know for sure in five days, but I'm betting it is the same.
It is definitely discrimination... or would you call it stupid business decision instead? Read on...
There are few places on earth with the type of consumerism that Puerto Rico exhibits.... and with over 4 MM people in the Island... it is a bigger market than perhaps 25% of the states in the Union (including Arkansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa, etc.)
Puerto Rico is:
1. Part of the US
2. Puertorricans are US Citizens
3. Puertorricans fight and die in USA wars
4. Puertorricans PAY SOCIAL SECURITY !!
5. Puerto Rico uses same currency, same postal service
6. Federal laws rule in Puerto Rico.
7. FBI works in Puerto Rico
8. Same Zip Code system
9. Same Dialing country code (+1)
10. Presidential candidates come to Puerto Rico to campaign and raise funds (with Hillary coming to the Island very soon).
Please note that with Apple...
1. Online Apple Store does not sell to Puerto Rico.
2. iPhone not being offered in Puerto Rico.
This is NOT only a practice of Apple, but also Wallmart. Wallmart has many stores in Puerto Rico .. now.. go to their website and Puerto Rico is NOT in the list... (try searching for stores in 00731 zip code) but Guam (another smaller territory) is on the list ... GO FIGURE !!!
It is also the practice of many eBay sellers .. but those can be forgiven as they very likely can not point out in the map where Puerto Rico is... and perhaps 90% of the states on the union neither !!!!
I'm from PR and was vacationing here at Florida so I bought the iPhone here because in the apple store they told I could use it there. After I came home to activate it, they told me it could be used in Puerto Rico but only as a phone. I read some forums and some people said it could be used in PR if you activated it, but I'm not sure of it. If anybody could tell me if this is true please let me know.
If anyone in PR has activated his/her iPhone (sent by a friend from the US) please post it here. If it was done in a special way (zipcode hack, etc.) ...pklease post it here!!
If anyone in PR has activated his/her iPhone (sent by a friend from the US) please post it here. If it was done in a special way (zipcode hack, etc.) ...please post it here!!
The Apple iPhone is in fact coming to Alaska! With the purchase of Dobson Communications by AT&T, announced the same day as the phone's release, Alaska can expect to be iPhone ready by the beginning of next year.
Dobson Communications, who operates under the Cellular One brand in Alaska and 16 other states, agreed to be bought out by AT&T. One of the main factors of this merger was recognizing the fact the only way it's customers can obtain the iPhone was to be bought out.
For more information you can check the press releases of either corporate websites.
www.att.com
www.dobson.net
Alaska, WELCOME THE IPHONE! (We'll still have to wait for the merge to be approved and for the rebranding of Cellular One as AT&T Mobility)
Hello!
I live in Puerto Rico and travel a lot between the U.S. Mainland and our island. I concur will all of the comments already posted regarding how Apple deals with Puerto Rico. What I found out is that Apple includes Puerto Rico in the Latin American website. http://latam.apple.com
Needless to say, Puerto Rico is not in the latinamerican market, and I am not sure why is this way with Apple. People in Puerto Rico do not like latin american priducts, and although we speak spanish as the main language, people do not like computer products in spanish or to deal with latin america. Puerto Rico better reflects the U.S. market and it is evident if you gou to any of our shopping malls. Most of the store are U.S. chain stores.
What some of my inpatient friends have done is they had someone buy them the iPhone and mail it to Puerto Rico. Then they are forced to register their account with a U.S. Mainland address and change their phone number to an area code from the Mainland, like Florida or Atlanta. This is even when the have had their accounts with Cingular now AT&T, for many years.
After this work around their iPhones work perfectly in Puerto Rico. This attitude from Apple or AT&T makes no sense. It is the same network, and in many ways our is more advanced than in many states of the U.S. We have 3G service, most of the states only have EDGE.
I would appreciate if MacWorld could use its resources and help us in Puerto Rico with this situation from Apple.
B.T.W.
Here is the URL for Cingular/ATT's website for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Additionally, I found out that the U.S. Virgin Islands are listed as a state in the Apple.com store, even though they are not states either. So, why are the listed and we are not? Why aren't they under the latinamerican market and Puerto Rico is?
Here is some more information about Puerto Rico's association with the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_rico
Another informacion source. CIA World Fact Book
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rq.html
I live in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
I purchased the iPhone during the weekend and activated on tuesday 6/3/07 using a US address. I can use all of its features! Working perfectly!
So, it can be used here. The problem is not AT&T. It has to do with Apple's activation system imo.
I totally agree with this issue. We have to be taken into consideration as a state, even though we are a territory. We are the best of both worlds, the North American and Latin American.
Hi, Guys... If I activate my iPhone with an address in NY the new phone number will be with the area code from NY, what happen to the people who call from Puerto Rico to my cell phone (iPhone)???? a Long Distant charge wil be apply to this calls???? I can't port my actual number (787),,,-,,,, in the activation process. Im afraid to acquire a new number because the Long Distant charge that the people who call me may have.. That anybody know something about this ???
Tks!!
That is correct. Whoever calls you will incur in long distance charges unless the have a national call plan. hat is until Apple releases the sale of iPhones to Puerto Rico.
Hello everybody! I've decided to write this post after reading about so many ATT customers from Puerto Rico and the USVI complaining that the iPhone is not available to be activated with local area codes numbers. Let me start by saying that ATT is breaking the law because of Apple's disinterest to follow laws. According to FCC Ordered “Wireless to Wireless Local Number Portability” law effective November 24, 2003 all carriers should:
“First, the FCC held that wireless customers who port their numbers should have the same flexibility to switch carriers that non-porting customers have currently, even if they have not settled their account with the old carrier. Thus, while wireless carriers may include and enforce credit requirements, early termination fees, and similar contractual provisions in their customer agreements, carriers may not refuse to port numbers upon receipt of a valid request from the customer's new carrier.
Second, the FCC held that wireless-to-wireless porting does not require the wireless carrier receiving the number to be directly interconnected with the wireless carrier that gives up the number or to have numbering resources in the rate center associated with the ported number. Although wireless carriers may voluntarily negotiate interconnection agreements with one another, such agreements are not required for wireless-to-wireless porting. In cases where wireless carriers cannot reach an agreement on the terms and conditions of porting, they must port numbers upon receipt of a valid request, with no conditions.
Third, the FCC encouraged wireless carriers to complete simple ports within the industry- established porting interval of two and a half hours from the time the customer requests service from the new carrier. Although the Commission did not propose to adopt the industry standard as a mandatory rule, it found no evidence that the standard was technically infeasible, and stated that it would reexamine the issue if it received numerous consumer complaints about the length of the wireless porting process.”
1) So let's say ATT claims cannot activate area codes due that Apple decided not to sell the iPhone in Puerto Rico and USVI thru their stores.
Irrelevant – As many of you have posted the iPhone can be obtained thru several ways: (Ebay, family members in the states, people who travel constantly, etc.)
2) The iPhone (equipment) works only in the ATT network in the US (this also includes PR and USVI).
3) ATT as an FCC approved Wireless Provider for the US (again including PR and USVI) needs to comply with the “Portability” of your number if you request for it, “with no conditions”
So if you 1) own an iPhone (approved unit to be used in ATT's network), 2) have a number that you want to keep and request for it to be “Ported” to ATT from another carrier, it should be processed without any problem.
Now ATT claims: “Apple is the one responsible for the activation of iPhone units using iTunes” but according to many of you, iTunes doesn't allow for this process if you have an 787, 939 or 314 area code. By not complying with the law ATT is the one that would have to respond to the FCC if complaints are sent by customers.
The FCC regulates wireless carriers in the US (50 states, PR and USVI).
If you would like to file a complaint against ATT visit FCC.GOV
Good Luck!
I live in the USVI and was told by apple and ATT while visiting boston this week that i could keep my ATT USVI phone number and that i would get all wireless service needed if i purchased the iphone. i purchased it and tried activating and activation would not work. upon calling ATT & Apple: ATT told me they do not activate iphones with USVI phone numbers because Apple does not let them. Upon talking to Apple: no reason was given for not allowing activation with a USVI #, its just "not allowed yet."
Now, i could however purchase a new phone line with a number from boston, activate the iphone, and use it in the USVI. this obviously is retarded as now there is really no reason why i can't keep my USVI #. what is the reason?!!!!
i've purchased the phone, i want to use it, why is apple being so retarded about this?! and why won't they at least tell us why?!
as suggested from above i submitted a complaint with the FCC, and everyone else should too!
its not right that they won't let us keep our phone numbers and/or making us add a line just to fwd it to the iphone.
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
All you have to do to buy apple products on line is get a credit card with a US billing address. Then have it mailed to a friend or family member and then have them mail it to you. I have a bunch of friends with iphones down here in pr and they work fine. Im sure not as well as in the states but we do have ATT/Cingular service here. Actually i have a friend that uses suncom, and it also works fine. My wife just told me that iphone is coming to pr in december 07 or January 08... "a frined told her!!!!" So dont take my word for it. We'll see.
I just activated my Out of the Box Firmware 1.1.2 iPhone on iTunes using my 787 number. I bought it in the US. Give it a try.