Canadians will finally have a chance to buy an Apple iPhone on Friday, but criticism of the data plan offered by the product's sole provider may have put a damper on the hype.

By early evening in Toronto, a few people had lined up at a downtown store, hoping to be the first in the city to purchase the phone. In Tokyo, lines had formed three days ago and swelled to hundreds of people.

The phone allows users to surf the Internet, check email and download special content and programs called "widgets" -- services that can lead to a hefty phone bill. Rogers initially said it would charge rates of between $60 and $115 a month on a three-year contract.

After customers complained, citing unlimited data plans in the United States, the Canadian phone provider lowered the cost. Rogers is now offering a six-gigabyte data plan for $30 a month, but only until Aug. 31.

"We are sticking to the promotion and we will go back to our regular rate card after the promotion is over," Rogers spokesperson Liz Hamilton told The Canadian Press.

According to Rogers, the six-gigabyte plan lets customers view roughly 36,000 web pages, or send or receive more than 157,000 emails, or watch almost 6,300 minutes of YouTube videos.

Rogers is the only phone provider in Canada that uses the GSM network required by the iPhone, and therefore the only operator that can carry the product.

A man who gave his name as "Bruno" said he was happy with his iPhone, which he bought in the U.S. months ago and converted for use in Canada.

"(It has) my calendar, my weather updates, a little notepad, my little widgets that I download -- for me, it does everything," he told CTV Toronto.

The iPhone being sold Friday is Apple's newest upgrade and runs on a 3G network. It features improved performance and lets users talk and surf the web at the same time.

CTV technology expert Kris Abel said the iPhone is his favourite gadget, and described it as a combination of iPod, phone and miniature computer. He said the large touch-screen also makes it easy to use.

"When you trade text messages it displays them both on the screen as speech bubbles, like on a comic book," he said.

The iPhone will be sold at Rogers and Fido stores across the country.

With a report from CTV Toronto and files from The Canadian Press