Bell Canada started its partnership with Texas-based AST in 2021 with an initial investment through the company’s venture arm.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
BCE Inc.’s BCE-T Bell Canada is launching direct-to-cell satellite service in 2026, offering customers video, voice, text and broadband data through a partnership with Texas-based AST SpaceMobile Inc. ASTS-Q
It’s the latest effort by a Canadian company to provide connectivity to the country’s most rural and challenging geographies, as global space companies race to sign customers and major deals with cell carriers.
“What we’re intending to do in 2026 is start rolling out the service, and we would expect customer trials in that period,” with details about a full-scale commercial launch coming later, said Bell executive vice-president and chief technology officer Mark McDonald.
Bell’s coming satellite feature follows that of rival Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T, which began offering text-only direct-to-satellite service in July using SpaceX’s Starlink low-earth-orbit satellites. Rogers plans to expand to data and voice in the future, but has not yet said when that will happen. The service is currently available as a free trial and will later cost $15 per month, with discounts for some users.
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Mr. McDonald said Bell carefully considered the trade-offs of waiting longer to roll out cell service that would enable more features from the start. He said the company felt that it could provide more value to customers by focusing on data and voice capabilities, given that cellphone equipment makers such as Apple Inc. are already building basic satellite service into their devices.
Bell first started its partnership with AST in 2021 with an initial investment through the company’s venture arm. Over the summer, Bell ran a successful test connecting a standard smartphone to an AST BlueBird satellite, and demonstrated video calling, broadband data, instant messaging and emergency alerts.
AST’s satellite service differs from what is offered by Starlink in that it relies on lower spectrum bands, which enables a stronger and more reliable signal, said Mr. McDonald.
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Bell already owns the necessary spectrum – the airwaves through which telecommunications signals travel – and before launching commercially, must make regulatory submissions to the federal government to change the use of those licences. The company must also wait for AST to launch more of its low-earth-orbit satellites, Mr. McDonald said.
The service will work with existing smartphones and will use Bell’s ground stations, meaning that all data will be retained within the borders of Canada, he added. When commercially available, the network will reach north of the 59th parallel, extending into coastal maritime zones.
Bell and Rogers could soon have more competition for direct-to-cell customers. In September, Elon Musk’s Starlink applied to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to launch a new satellite constellation, and signalled it is planning to offer mobile phone services directly to consumers around the world, wherever it is authorized to operate.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the satellite service is currently available as a free trial and will later cost users $15 per month.