Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstream networks. Bell Mobility is the second-largest wireless carrier in Canada, with 11.1 million subscribers as of Q2 2024.
Bell-owned Virgin Mobile Canada as well as Loblaws prepaid PC Telecom, operate as MVNOs on the Bell Mobility network. Some of Bell Canada's regional subsidiaries continue to operate their own wireless networks separate from Bell Mobility; these are Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel.
In July 2006, Bell Mobility assumed responsibility for the former Aliant wireless operations in Atlantic Canada as part of a larger restructuring of both Bell and Aliant, and continued to do business there as Aliant Mobility until re-branding as Bell in April 2008. Bell similarly acquired MTS in Manitoba in 2017, rebranding it as Bell MTS; initially operating autonomously as Bell MTS Mobility, its wireless customers were brought under Bell Mobility in late-2018.
Networks
Although both are different and independent from one another, both the CDMA and UMTS networks use the 850 and 1900 MHz frequencies. Bell's LTE network uses Band 4 Advanced Wireless Services and Band 2 Personal Communications Service in most coverage areas and Band 7 in a few areas.As of April 30, 2019, all CDMA service from Bell has been discontinued.
UMTS
In October 2009, Telus Mobility and Bell announced plans to deploy HSPA technology by 2010 as part of an effort to eventually upgrade to LTE technology. The network, using largely shared infrastructure, launched on November 4, 2009.According to Bell, the single-channel HSPA+ network is available to 96% of the Canadian population. It provides download speeds of up to 21 Mbit/s, with typical speeds ranging between 3½ and 8 Mbit/s. The dual-channel network, on the other hand, began in 2010 and is available to 70% of the Canadian population. It can reach download speeds of up to 42 Mbit/s but with typical speeds of 7 to 14 Mbit/s.
Bell's HSPA+ network coverage is in portions of all Canadian provinces and territories, but it is not possible to drive in Canada between the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast without going through areas without any cellular coverage, as there are gaps in cellular coverage in British Columbia and Ontario.
LTE
Bell launched LTE by using the 1700 MHz frequency in Toronto and surrounding areas on September 14, 2011. Since then, Bell has expanded LTE into most areas of Canada where it has HSPA coverage, and launched LTE on to the 2600 MHz frequency for additional bandwidth in March 2012 and on to the 700 MHz spectrum in 2014. Bell will use either Band 13 or Band 12 depending on provinces.As of May 2017, LTE coverage reaches 97% of Canada's population, but there are gaps in coverage in smaller communities and between communities, where Bell's HSPA+ network is available but its LTE network is not available.
As of February 2016, Bell Mobility has launched voice over LTE.
5G NR
In June 2020, Bell launched 5G services in Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver using 1700 MHz AWS-3 spectrum. Bell has used equipment from Ericsson and Nokia Networks.Radio frequency summary
| Frequency range | Band number | Protocol | Generation | Status | Note |
| 850 MHz CLR | 5 | UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+/DC-HSPA+ | 3G | Active | Fallback for calls and HSPA+ data. Network to be shut down by December 31, 2025. |
| 1.9 GHz PCS | 2 | UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+/DC-HSPA+ | 3G | Active | Fallback for calls and HSPA+ data. Network to be shut down by December 31, 2025. |
| 600 MHz DD | 71 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active/Being deployed | Spectrum owned by Telus, but can also be used by Bell customers via the RAN sharing agreement. |
| 700 MHz A/B/C/Upper C1-2/D/E | 12/13/17/29 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active/Being deployed | Mainly used in rural areas/rural coverage. Also used to provide Dual or Tri-band LTE Advanced coverage within city limits. |
| 850 MHz CLR | 5 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active/Being deployed | Used for extra bandwidth within cities and rural coverage. Re-farmed from Decommissioning CDMA network across the country. Also re-farmed from 850 MHz UMTS network in some areas. |
| 1.7/2.1 GHz AWS | 4/66 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active/Being deployed | Main LTE Band used across the country. Also being used to provide LTE Advanced coverage. |
| 1.9 GHz PCS | 2 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active/Being deployed | Secondary LTE Band being deployed and used for LTE/LTE Advanced coverage. Re-farmed from Decommissioning CDMA network. Also re-farmed from 1,900 MHz UMTS network in some areas. |
| 2.6 GHz IMT-E | 7 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active/Being deployed | Found in select markets, but being developed slowly in new markets alongside to provide LTE Advanced coverage. |
| 5.2 GHz U-NII | 46 | LTE/LTE-A/LTE-A Pro | 4G | Active/Being deployed | License assisted access. Additional capacity in select cities. |
| 600 MHz DD | n71 | NR | 5G | Active/Being deployed | Being actively deployed in several markets alongside n78. Spectrum owned by Telus, but can also be used by Bell customers via the RAN sharing agreement. |
| 850 MHz CLR | n5 | NR | 5G | Active/Being deployed | Being actively deployed in several markets alongside n78. |
| 1.9 GHz PCS | n25 | NR | 5G | Active/Being deployed | Secondary NR band |
| 1.7/2.1 GHz AWS-3 | n66 | NR | 5G | Active/Being deployed | Secondary NR band. |
| 3.7 GHz C-Band | n77/n78 | NR | 5G | Active/Being deployed | Spectrum acquired in 2021 auction. Active since June 2022. |
Products
Bell Mobility currently carries iPhone and Android smartphones, plus the TCL Flip feature phone. These types of smartphones were added to Bell's lineup on November 4, 2009, coinciding with the carrier's launch of its 3G HSPA network. Since the launch of its 5G NR network in 2020, all devices sold by Bell are compatible with its 4G LTE network, and most smartphones are also compatible with its 5G network.Former devices sold by Bell generally used deprecated network technologies: 3G CDMA and HSPA/HSPA+, 2G CDMA and 1G AMPS. Of these, only the HSPA and HSPA+ networks remain in operation, although they are scheduled to be shut down by December 31, 2025. In contrast to Verizon and Sprint in the United States, Bell did not offer CDMA service with its iPhone and Android devices. Bell formerly carried devices with the BlackBerry, webOS and Windows operating systems, which are no longer supported.
Services
History
The first cell phone conversation in Canada took place on the Bell network between Jean Drapeau and Art Eggleton, the mayors of Montreal and Toronto, on July 1, 1985.The first cell phone customer in Canada was Victor Surerus, a travelling funeral director out of Peterborough, Ontario who purchased a $2,700 CAD telephone set and took out a service subscription with Bell Canada in July 1985.
Bell Mobility discontinued its Advanced Mobile Phone System analog mobile network in February 2008.
Current services
Bell offers a service to check account balances, minutes and megabytes of mobile data used, add features and answers to frequently asked questions. The service is called TCARE, short for text message care. It is used by sending a blank message to the phone number TCARE.Mobile Internet
Bell offers four Internet-only plans and several smartphone plans and add-ons for customers wishing to access mobile broadband.Various fixed data allowances are offered by Bell: 10, 20, 100, 300 and 500 MB, as well as 1 to 6 GB, 10 GB and 15 GB. The 20 MB add-on is a daily allowance, while the others are monthly allowances.
Flexible data plans are also available. This is used for Bell Mobility's Internet-only plans and some smartphone plans, which begins with a certain usage limit at a lower tier. if this is exceeded, the customer moves to the next higher tier with a slightly larger allowance.
The flexible "Turbo Hub flex plan" from Bell differs in that customers have to pay a premium if they want to increase the maximum theoretical speeds from 7.2 Mbit/s to 21 Mbit/s. No additional usage is included when paying for the speed upgrade. Bell's policy is to only allow the sale of Turbo Hub service with its own Turbo Hub devices.
- Bell's wireless Internet plan starts at the initial 2 GB tier. If this is exceeded, the tier automatically goes up to 5 GB, then up to 10 GB, then up to 15 GB as the final tier. There are additional charges if one does goes above the 15 GB tier.