| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Wireless Services |
| Founded | Toronto, Ontario (1986) |
| Headquarters | Mississauga, Ontario |
| Key people | George Cope - President |
| Products | BlackBerries, Apple iPhone, PocketPC, Palm, Wireless Data Services, Two way messaging, Picture and Video Messaging (MMS), Video Calling |
| Parent | Bell Canada |
| Website | www.bell.ca/ |
Bell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network (named Bell Cellular up until 1993) and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada. 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 rebranding as Bell in April 2008.[1] Bell Mobility and its affiliates combined have over 7 million subscribers as of the end of Q2 2011, including over 5.7 million or 79% on postpaid and over 1.5 million or 20% on prepaid.[2]
Bell-owned Virgin Mobile Canada and Solo Mobile, as well as Loblaw's PC Mobile, 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 (NMI Mobility and Latitude Wireless), Télébec (Télébec Mobilité), and NorthernTel (NorthernTel Mobility).
Bell Mobility is a member of the British Columbia Technology Industry Association.
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Although both are different and independent from one another, both the CDMA and HSPA+ networks use the 850 and 1900 MHz frequencies.
Previously, Bell operated an Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) analog network, but it was decommissioned in February 2008.
Bell Mobility maintains a legacy CDMA network with Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) technology. The operator continues to provide roaming to other CDMA carriers such as Public Mobile and Telus Mobility in Canada. Bell also provides roaming for Sprint Nextel, a CDMA carrier in the United States, following a renewed agreement effective June 21, 2006.[3]
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 launched on November 4, 2009, months ahead of schedule. This allowed Bell to carry the iPhone 3GS, which was available at Telus the following day. Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks provided the infrastructure for the new network, which covers 93% of the Canadian Population.[4]
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, 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.[5]
Bell launched LTE in Toronto and surrounding areas on September 14, 2011. On October 29, 2011, Bell expanded its LTE coverage to include the Halifax, Dartmouth and Belleville cities in Nova Scotia.[6] This makes Bell the first LTE operator in all these regions. Theoretical maximum speeds for the current network are 75 Mbit/s for download, but the company claims that this will double over time. Typical speeds range from 12 Mbit/s to 25 Mbit/s. Two LTE mobile broadband modems and an LTE smartphone are currently available.[5] Service plans are currently priced identically to Rogers Wireless, but unlike Rogers, Bell does not charge a Government Regulatory Recovery Fee. Any plan that works with HSPA+ will also work with the LTE network at no additional charge.
Bell Mobility's handset lineup includes HSPA+ feature phones from LG, Nokia, Samsung and Sanyo. The LG 231, the Samsung Entro and the Sanyo Pro-700 are Bell's last feature phones to use the CDMA technology.
Due to the simplicity of the devices and their limited potential for Internet applications, there are currently no plans for Bell to carry LTE feature phones. The operator plans to launch smartphones for that type of network.
HSPA+ smartphones from Apple, HTC, Motorola, RIM and Samsung. They became the second Canadian mobile carrier to carry the Apple iPhone (after Rogers Wireless) on November 4, 2009 when Bell launched their HSPA+ mobile network and the iPhone 3GS. Bell also has a category of high-end Android devices which they refer to as "superphones."
Bell has launched the HTC Raider 4G and is planning to launch other Android phones in the future.
Similarly to its competitor Mike, Bell features a line-up of rugged feature phones and mobile broadband modems built to withstand various weather conditions.[7]
Bell carried the Palm Pre smartphone on August 27, 2009. They were the exclusive carrier in Canada for this CDMA device, and marketed it heavily to compete against the iPhone, which was then exclusive to Rogers Wireless and its brand Fido. When Bell launched its HSPA network and the iPhone 3GS on November 4, 2009, the promotion and popularity of the Pre decreased. On August 17, 2011, nearly two years after its initial launch, the Palm Pre was officially discontinued by Bell. An icon depicting the Palm Pre continues to appear of the Mobility tab Bell's website.
Due to the age of the technology as deployed by Bell, CDMA smartphones are no longer sold by Bell Mobility, although its brand Solo Mobile continues to sell a legacy BlackBerry Pearl 8130 which uses the CDMA technology. The selection of CDMA feature phones has also been drastically reduced in conjunction with Bell's investments in HSPA+ and LTE technologies.
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 (82273).
Bell offers several plans and add-ons for customers wishing to access Internet content via its mobile network. Only one plan can be added per device, and certain plans are only available for certain devices.
Various fixed data allowances are offered by Bell, from 100 MB for feature phones and lower-end smartphones to 10 GB for mobile Internet hubs.
Flexible data plans are also available. This is used for Bell's portable Internet plan, which starts at the initial 3 GB tier. If this is exceeded, the tier automatically goes up to 5 GB, then up to 10 GB as the final tier. There are additional charges if one does not stay on the 3 GB tier. Service is disconnected for the remainder of the month once 10 GB of data has been used. It will be resumed either on the following month, or by calling Bell to allow pay-per-megabyte use.
Occasionally, Bell releases a promotional add-on, which includes a 6 GB data allowance for mobile Internet service at the reduced cost of $30/month. This cannot be purchased alone, as it must be added to a voice plan.
Bell Mobile TV was launched for Bell smartphones on October 18, 2010.[8] Support for tablet computer was later added.
Applications for Bell Mobile TV are preloaded on some Bell smartphones and tablets at no additional charge, but require a subscription in order to be used. The service is optimized for use on the more recent HSPA+ network, as additional fees may apply for some legacy CDMA devices. The mobile television service works like, but the channel selection is limited compared to, Bell TV and Bell Fibe TV.[9]
Like its residential TV offering, Bell divides its Mobile TV channels into several packages:
Channels and programming in italics are On Demand. These channels are also available Live, with the exception of Aux, Bite, Comedy, and all HBO offerings.
Service plans for Mobile TV and Tablet TV cost $5 per month and include 5 hours of access to live and on demand channels in both the Sports and Variety packages. The HBO add-on is available for either plan. It costs an additional $5/month, includes 5 more hours of viewing per month, and also grants access to HBO episodes on demand. Those who watch additional hours will pay $1 per hour. If any hours are unused, they cannot be rolled over to the next month. Fees also include any data used for watching Bell Mobile TV. The same service, at the same rates and with the same conditions, are also available on Virgin Mobile Canada, but not on Solo Mobile.
The company currently has over 300 000 Mobile TV customers, representing over 4.1% of Bell Mobility's customers base.
Bell launched a proprietary Video Calling service on November 4, 2009 for select HSPA+ mobile phones. The service costs $5 CAD for unlimited video calls.[10] It is currently supported by these smartphones:
Currently, however, only the Nokia C6-01 and Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant are sold by Bell Mobility. It is unknown whether or not a non-Bell Galaxy S, or even Bell's Samsung Galaxy S II, 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.
From 2003 to 2005 and in 2007, Bell Mobility and its brand Solo Mobile used a pixel art style of advertising. This reflected the limited capacity of graphical displays in mobile phones sold throughout these years.
In conjunction with the 2006 Olympics, Bell Mobility introduced a pair of anthropomorphic CGI beavers named Frank (voiced by Norm Macdonald) and Gordon (voiced by Ken Hudson Campbell),[11] 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 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.[12]
The ad campaign was canceled by Bell on August 1, 2008[13] and replaced with the "Today just got better" campaign.
Bell Mobility and its brands has been the subject of numerous criticism.
In addition to running its own retail operations, Bell partners with multi-carrier retailers like those run by throughout Canada by Glentel.
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