Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian
wireless network operator and the division of
Bell Canada
Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
which offers
wireless
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
services across Canada. It operates networks using
LTE and
HSPA+ on its mainstream networks. Bell Mobility is the
third-largest wireless carrier in Canada, with 10.1 million subscribers as of Q3 2020.
Bell-owned
Virgin Mobile Canada as well as
Loblaw
Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners (including Loblaws), as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private ...
s 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 (but generally allowing for roaming with) Bell Mobility; these are
Northwestel
Northwestel Inc. (stylized as NorthwesTel) is a Canadian telecommunications company that is the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) and long-distance carrier in the territories of Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Originally est ...
(NMI Mobility and Latitude Wireless),
Télébec (Télébec Mobilité), and
NorthernTel
NorthernTel LP (formerly Northern Telephone Limited or NTL) is a telephone company in Ontario, Canada.
NorthernTel began in April 1905 in New Liskeard, Ontario, as the Temiskaming Telephone Company. It grew by buying other regional telephone prov ...
(NorthernTel Mobility).
In July 2006, Bell Mobility assumed responsibility for the former
Aliant wireless operations in
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...
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
Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) is a wireless telecommunications spectrum band used for mobile voice and data services, video, and messaging. AWS is used in the United States, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, E ...
(AWS 1700/2100 MHz) and Band 2
Personal Communications Service
A personal communications service (PCS) is set of communications capabilities that provide a combination of terminal mobility, personal mobility, and service profile management. This class of services comprises several types of wireless voice ...
(PCS 1900 MHz) in most coverage areas and Band 7 (2600 MHz) in a few areas.
As of April 30, 2019, all CDMA service from Bell has been discontinued.
UMTS
In October 2009,
Telus Mobility
Telus Mobility (normally typeset as TELUS Mobility) is a Canadian wireless network operator and a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. It operates 5G, LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstre ...
and Bell announced plans to deploy
HSPA
HSPA may refer to:
* High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology
* Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association
Education
* High School Proficiency Assessment
* Humphrey School of Public Affairs
The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Aff ...
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.
[The latest BCE News Releases About Coporate, Financial, Regulatory, Products & Services » BCE](_blank)
Bce.ca. Retrieved on 2013-12-09.
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 (Band 4) frequency in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
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 (Band 7) frequency for additional bandwidth in March 2012 and on to the 700 MHz spectrum (paired bands LTE Band 12/17 and 13 and unpaired Band 29) 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 (VoLTE).
5G NR
In June 2020, Bell launched
5G services in Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver using 1700 MHz AWS-3 spectrum (band n66). Bell has used equipment from
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informat ...
and
Nokia Networks
Nokia Networks (formerly Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN)) is a multinational data networking and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Espoo, Finland, and wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia Co ...
.
Radio frequency summary
Products
Feature phones and smartphones supporting HSPA and LTE are offered by Bell, and are generally the same as offered by the other two large carriers in Canada,
Rogers Wireless
Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian wireless telephone company headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of just under $15.1 billi ...
and
Telus Mobility
Telus Mobility (normally typeset as TELUS Mobility) is a Canadian wireless network operator and a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. It operates 5G, LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstre ...
.
Legacy products
Due to the age of the technology as deployed by Bell, CDMA smartphones are no longer supported by Bell Mobility.
Services
History
The first cell phone conversation in Canada took place on the Bell network between
Jean Drapeau and
Art Eggleton
Arthur C. Eggleton (born September 29, 1943) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 59th and longest-serving mayor of Toronto from 1980 to 1991. He was elected to Parliament in 1993, running as a Liberal in York Centre and served a ...
, 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 (AMPS) analog mobile network in February 2008.
Current services
*
BlackBerry Internet Service
*
Telephony
Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunication services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is i ...
*
SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
and
MMS MMS may refer to:
Science and technology Network communication protocols
* Multimedia Messaging Service for mobile phones
* Microsoft Media Server, a content-streaming protocol (mms://)
* Manufacturing Message Specification for real time proces ...
Bell offers a service to check account balances, minutes and
megabytes
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Its recommended unit symbol is MB. The unit prefix ''mega'' is a multiplier of (106) in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one megabyte is one million bytes o ...
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 (82273).
Mobile Internet
Bell offers four Internet-only plans and several
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
plans and add-ons for customers wishing to access
mobile broadband
Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartphone (possibly Tetherin ...
.
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.
Some
grandfathered
A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...
customers have an unlimited mobile Internet plan or add-on. These are usually limited to older and slower
CDMA
Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...
devices such as the now-discontinued
Palm Pre
The Palm Pre , styled as palm prē, is a multitasking smartphone that was designed and marketed by Palm with a multi-touch screen and a sliding keyboard. The smartphone was the first to use Palm's Linux-based mobile operating system, webOS. Th ...
, and normally cannot be used for tethering unless the device is a
mobile broadband modem
A mobile broadband modem, also known as wireless modem or cellular modem, is a type of modem that allows a personal computer or a router to receive wireless Internet access via a mobile broadband connection instead of using telephone or cable t ...
. Its active
Virgin Mobile Canada brand also have grandfathered accounts with unlimited mobile broadband.
Mobile TV and Radio
Bell Mobile TV was launched for Bell
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s on October 18, 2010.
Push-To-Talk
On April 24, 2012, Bell launched an improved
Push-To-Talk
Push-to-talk (PTT), also known as press-to-transmit, is a method of having conversations or talking on half-duplex communication lines, including two-way radio, using a momentary button to switch from voice reception mode to transmit mode.
H ...
(PTT) service. It is powered by Bell's newer
HSPA+ network, in contrast to the operator's older PTT (Officially titled 10-4) service which used the
CDMA
Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...
network. HSPA+ service is available at one flat rate for unlimited Bell-to-Bell PTT service from and to Canada. The monthly service can either be purchased alone, or added to any plan at a lower cost. PTT roaming in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
or other countries is billed per megabyte. One megabyte offers approximately ten minutes of PTT talk time. Consequently, Bell offers approximately 100 to 400 PTT roaming minutes for traveling in the USA.
Discontinued services
Bell launched a proprietary Video Calling service on November 4, 2009 for select
HSPA+ mobile phones. The service featured a cost of $5
CAD
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...
per month for unlimited video calls. It was supported by the
LG Xenon
Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...
,
Nokia C6,
Nokia N97
The Nokia N97 is a high-end smartphone introduced on 2 December 2008 by telecommunications manufacturer Nokia as part of its Nseries and released in June 2009 as the successor to the Nokia N96 phone. The N97 was Nokia's second S60-based touchsc ...
,
Samsung Galaxy S The Samsung Galaxy S is a series of high-end Android phones made by Samsung. It may refer to:
* Samsung Galaxy S (2010 smartphone)
* Samsung Galaxy II
* Samsung Galaxy III
* Samsung Galaxy S4
* Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
* Samsung Galaxy S5
* Sams ...
Vibrant,
Samsung Omnia II
The Samsung Omnia II GT-I8000(H/L/U) is a multimedia smartphone announced at Samsung Mobile Unpacked on June 15, 2009. Earlier Omnia II releases run Windows Mobile 6.1, however they are upgradable to version 6.5 Professional. There is also an u ...
and
Samsung Wave
The Samsung Wave (or Samsung Wave GT-S8500) is a smartphone developed and produced by Samsung Electronics. It is the first smartphone to run the Bada operating system developed by Samsung Electronics, which was commercially released on May 24, 201 ...
smartphones. These devices have all been discontinued. It is unknown whether or not a non-Bell Galaxy S, or even Bell's
Samsung Galaxy S II
The Samsung Galaxy S II (or Galaxy S2) is a touchscreen-enabled, slate-format Android smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Samsung Electronics, as the second smartphone of the Samsung Galaxy S series. It has additional software feat ...
, support the Video Calling service. These
Android-based devices, however, can use the included
Google Talk for videoconferencing as long as they have an Internet connection available.
Advertising
In conjunction with the 2006 Olympics, Bell Mobility introduced a pair of
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
CGI
beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
s named Frank (voiced by
Norm Macdonald
Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...
) and Gordon (voiced by
Ken Hudson Campbell
Kenneth Hudson Campbell (born June 5, 1962) is an American television and voice actor.
Early life
Campbell attended York Community High School in Elmhurst, Illinois, Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Columbia College Chicago. He beg ...
), who constantly got into misadventures which led to Frank getting flustered with the antics of the dimwitted Gordon. Analysts covering a potential restructuring of
BCE
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...
suggested getting rid of the ''
Frank and Gordon'' ad campaign. They have also criticized some of Bell Mobility's initiatives as failing to tap the market, such as offering full-length movies.
The ad campaign was canceled by Bell on August 1, 2008 and replaced with the "Today just got better" campaign.
Criticism
Feature restrictions
Some clients of Bell Mobility have claimed that their phones' features have been restricted. This action is typically referred to as "crippling". Examples of claims of restricted features are the inability to perform
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
file transfers, for example with the
OBEX
OBEX (abbreviation of OBject EXchange, also termed IrOBEX) is a communications protocol that facilitates the exchange of binary objects between devices. It is maintained by the Infrared Data Association but has also been adopted by the Bluetooth S ...
profile or with a
USB
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...
cable. Restrictions also include increasing the GPS lock time (2–10 minutes) and resolution (1-2.5 km) of third-party applications while maintaining the speed (10-15 s) and accuracy (10–25 m) of the branded GPS Nav program. GPS Nav service costs $10/month or $3.50/day in addition to the cost of a data plan. The phones affected include the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, BlackBerry 8130 Pearl, and BlackBerry 8330 Curve.
Some clients claim that Bell Mobility purposely restricts these features in order to force them to use the data services and as a result pay more usage charges. Methods around these restrictions are to use an external memory card or software such as
BitPim
BitPim is an Open-source software, open source program designed for managing content on CDMA devices. Most mobile phones using a Qualcomm-manufactured CDMA chipset are supported. The program is also cross-platform, operating on the Microsoft W ...
. Researching the abilities and lack thereof is recommended before purchasing a phone or
PDA device, as some desired features may be lacking in the initial choice.
Some clients claim that Bell Mobility withholds firmware upgrades, especially for devices that are not meeting sales expectations. While some SKUs do receive updates on a regular basis, Bell Mobility is reluctant to release upgrades that add enhancements to product, focusing only on firmware releases that fix issues. Oftentimes those upgrades fail to become available as well.
Data Plans
In December 2007 the BBC reported a customer with a $7/month unlimited mobile browser plan received a $85,000 bill.
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
December 13, 2007 The customer had used his phone as a wireless modem for his computer, and so data transferred was not included under the customer's unlimited mobile browser plan. Bell Mobility now releases in detail acceptable data usage in the terms of servic
The BBC reported "Canadians complain that their mobile phone charges are much higher for comparable service in the United States".
Text Messaging
In July 2008, along with
Telus Mobility
Telus Mobility (normally typeset as TELUS Mobility) is a Canadian wireless network operator and a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. It operates 5G, LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstre ...
Bell introduced charges of 15¢ for incoming SMS messages. Critics were quick to point out that there is no way of blocking incoming message fees and suggested Bell and Telus were price fixing as both had announced the fees simultaneously. Bell (and Telus) are now being sued by frustrated consumers and subscribers, as they demand change in text charges. Many customers were frustrated because this fee also apply to existing customers with ongoing contracts.
Retail presence
In addition to running its own retail operations, Bell co-owns
Glentel
Glentel is a Canadian retail firm. Based in Burnaby, the company deals primarily as a retailer of mobile phone services.
In Canada, the company operates over 350 wireless outlets under the Tbooth Wireless (La cabine T sans-fil in Quebec, formerly ...
alongside their chief telecom and media rival,
Rogers Rogers may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Rogers Pass (British Columbia)
* Rogers Island (Nunavut)
United States
* Rogers, Arkansas, a city
* Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement
* Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...
. Bell Mobility also distributes through the independent
Cellcom Communications
Cellcom Communications or Cellcom is a telecommunications company based in Montreal, Quebec and the largest franchisee of Bell Canada & Bell Mobility in North America with 42 stores across Ontario and Greater Montreal Area.
History
Cellcom's par ...
, mainly in the
Greater Montreal
Greater Montreal (french: Grand Montréal) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with ...
area. Bell purchased ownership in
The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
(formerly known as
RadioShack
RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921.
At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...
) to increase its retail presence.
See also
*
Bell Canada
Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
, the parent of Bell Mobility
*
List of Canadian mobile phone companies Bell Business Mobility Services
References
External links
Official website
{{Internet service providers of Canada
Bell Canada
Mobile phone companies of Canada
Companies based in Mississauga