One of our connects sent us a rather interesting tip this morning. Rumor has it that Rogers Wireless is planning on launching another discount carrier (yes they own and operate Fido as well) with hopes that within 5 years its competition (the other Canadian discount brands ie WIND Mobile and Mobilicity) will not survive. It is very interesting watching stories unravel, I vividly remember Rogers Communications President Rob Bruce saying during his keynote speech at the Canadian Telecom Summit not too long ago that Rogers isn’t worried about the emerging brands, that “Unlimited” is just a catchy marketing term, and that consumers should stop “strengthening the weak” when it comes to discount brands. My guess is he’s either had a change of heart towards the business model that the discount brands have gained success on or he realizes that the only way to win is to simply drown out the enemy.

Further to this story, BGR posted inventory screenshots displaying the Samsung Gravity as one of the devices Chat-r intends to carry, also included in this lineup are:

Nokia 1661

Nokia 2680 slide

LG Sapphire

We’ve also been told that Chat-r’s very quiet launch party will be held July 5th in Toronto and July 6th in Vancouver. Rogers’ is rumored to be launching Chat-r (In a similar fashion to WIND) in Toronto first, with Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa following suit shortly after.

We will update on this post as the story unfolds, hit the break for the inventory screenshot

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