Bell Canada has announced it is launching a direct-to-cell satellite service in 2026 – offering customers video, voice, text and broadband data – through a partnership with Texas-based AST SpaceMobile.

It’s the latest effort by the 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 EVP/CTO Mark McDonald, as reported by The Globe & Mail.

McDonald told the newspaper that 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 are already building basic satellite service into their devices.

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, McDonald added.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: AST SpaceMobile, Bell, canada, McDonald's