List of Canadian mobile phone companies
Mobile network operators
This is a list of mobile network operators in Canada from largest to smallest by the number of current subscriptions. As of Q2 2014, there are over 27 million wireless subscriptions in Canada. Approximately 90% of cell phone users subscribe to one of the three largest Canadian telecom companies (Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility, and Telus Mobility) or one of their subsidiary brands.
| Mobile Provider | Brands and Subsidiaries | % of Canadian population covered | Subscriptions (2014) | Blended ARPU monthly (2014) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postpaid | Prepaid | Total | ||||
| Rogers Communications | Rogers Wireless, Fido, Chatr | LTE: 77% HSPA+: Over 93% |
8,073,000 | 1,377,000 | 9,450,000 |
$82.02 |
| Telus Mobility [note 1] | Telus, Koodo, Mike, Clearnet, Public Mobile | LTE: 82% HSPA+ and CDMA: 98% [note 2] |
7,108,000 | 992,000 | 8,300,000 |
$63.13 |
| Bell Canada Enterprises | Bell Mobility, Virgin, Solo, Northwestel, Télébec, NorthernTel | 6,986,196 | 984,506 | 8,120,000 |
$60.07 | |
| WIND Mobile Corporation | WIND Mobile | HSPA+: 44%[1] | N/A | 800,000 |
$38.00 | |
| SaskTel Mobility | SaskTel | Saskatchewan | N/A | 615,694 |
$64.39 | |
| Videotron Mobile | Videotron | Québec and Ottawa | N/A | 521,600 | $69.44 | |
| MTS Mobility | MTS | Manitoba | 409,084 | 65,517 | 474,601 | $59.70 |
| DAVE Wireless | Mobilicity | HSPA+: 34%[2] | N/A | 156,300[3] | $35.91 | |
| Bragg Communications | EastLink | Atlantic | N/A | |||
| TBayTel | TBayTel | Thunder Bay, Superior Wireless | N/A | |||
| Ice Wireless | Ice Wireless | Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut | N/A | |||
| References:[4] | ||||||
- ↑ Telus numbers include those of recently acquired of Public and may be different from CWTA-reported.
- ↑ Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility have a multiple operator core network agreement to provide a common radio network to the customer (distinct from a roaming arrangement, where the radio networks are separate). Bell builds most of its towers in Eastern Canada, while most of Telus' towers are in Western Canada.
In addition, as of October 22, 2013 the following companies expressed their interest in becoming mobile carriers as part of Canada's 2014 700 MHz spectrum auction by becoming provisional bidders: Feenix Wireless Inc, Catalyst Capital Group, Vecima Networks, Novus Wireless, and a numbered Alberta company controlled by Corridor Communications.[5]
Market Share
Mobile networks
| Operator | Technology | Frequency | Ownership | Roaming | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GSM |
CDMA | iDEN |
HSPA+ | LTE |
PCS |
SMR |
AWS | |||
| Airtel Wireless | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Airtel Wireless Ltd. | None |
| Bell Mobility | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Bell Canada Enterprises | Telus Mobility |
| Eastlink | Roaming[note 1] | No | No | Yes | Yes | Roaming[note 1] | No | Yes | Eastlink | Rogers Wireless / Bell Mobility |
| Fleetcom | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Fleetcom Inc. | None |
| Ice Wireless | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Ice Wireless | Rogers Wireless |
| Keewaytinook Mobile | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Keewaytinook Okimakanak's (KO) Kuhkenah Network | Rogers Wireless |
| Lynx Mobility | Yes | Yes (being shut down) | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Lynx Mobility | Bell Mobility / Telus Mobility |
| Mobilicity | Roaming[note 1] | No | No | Yes | No | Roaming[note 1] | No | Yes | DAVE Wireless | Rogers Wireless |
| MTS Mobility | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | MTS | Rogers Wireless / Sasktel |
| Rogers Wireless | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Rogers Communications | TBayTel / ICE Wireless |
| SaskTel Mobility | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | SaskTel | Bell Mobility / Telus Mobility / MTS / Rogers Wireless |
| Sogetel Mobilité | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Sogetel | Bell Mobility |
| TBayTel Mobility | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Thunder Bay Telephone | Rogers Wireless |
| Telus Mobility | No | Yes | Yes[note 2] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[note 2] | Yes | Telus Communications | Bell Mobility |
| Videotron Mobile | Roaming[note 1] | No | No | Yes | Yes | Roaming[note 1] | No | Yes | Québecor | Rogers Wireless |
| Wind Mobile | Roaming[note 1][note 3] | No | No | Yes | Experimental[note 4] | Roaming[note 1][note 3] | No | Yes | Globalive | Rogers Wireless / Telus Mobility |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Mobilicity, Videotron Mobile, and Wind Mobile allow their customers to roam on Rogers Wireless' GSM technology and Personal Communications Service (PCS) frequency network. Roaming is intended to be used when one is outside of the AWS carrier's network coverage. Eastlink also allows their customers to roam on Rogers Wireless' GSM 3G/4G network, as well as Bell's.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Telus Mobility sells Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) services using Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) frequencies. Services are sold under the Mike brand, which is available in Telus retail stores and online.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wind Mobile adds Telus Mobility as roaming partner, boasts 14% improvement in coverage.
- ↑ Wind Mobile confirmed to be testing basic 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology on February 3, 2011. The operator has not yet deployed LTE for general public use.
Former mobile networks
This list includes legacy network terminations as well as defunct network operators.
| Operator | Type | Ownership | Purchased by | Ceased Operations | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Mobility | Ev-DO | Bell | N/A | July 1, 2015[6] | Complete CDMA shut down planned prior to 2017[6] |
| Clearnet | CDMA | Clearnet Communications | Telus Mobility | 2000 | Network merged with Telus |
| Fido | GSM | Microcell | Rogers Communications | 2004 | Network merged with Rogers Fido operates as MVNO |
| Public Mobile | CDMA with Ev-DO | Public Mobile | Telus Mobility | August 8, 2014[7] | MVNO on Telus HSPA+ network[7] |
| Sasktel | Ev-DO | Sasktel | N/A | September 30, 2014[8] | Complete CDMA shut down planned prior to 2017[8] |
| TBayTel | CDMA | TBayTel | N/A | December 31, 2014.[9] | |
| Telus Mobility | Ev-DO | Telus | N/A | March 31, 2014[10] | Ev-DO still available outside of Alberta and BC Complete CDMA shut down planned in 2015[10] |
- This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Mobile virtual network operators (MVNO)
| Operator | Ownership | Network provider |
|---|---|---|
| 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless | Ztar Mobile | Rogers |
| Brightroam | iRoam | Rogers |
| Chatr | Rogers Communications | Rogers |
| Cansel Connect | Cansel | Rogers |
| Cityfone | Cityfone | Rogers |
| CityWest | CityWest & Northwestel | Bell |
| Clearnet | Telus Communications | Telus |
| DCI Wireless | DCI Telecom | Rogers |
| Fido Solutions | Rogers Communications | Rogers |
| good2go Mobile Canada | Ztar Mobile | Rogers |
| KMTS Mobility | KMTS | Bell |
| Koodo Mobile | Telus Communications | Telus |
| KORE Wireless | KORE Telematics | Rogers |
| NorthernTel Mobility | Bell Aliant | Bell |
| Northwestel | Bell Mobility | Bell |
| PC Mobile | Loblaws | Bell(Prepaid)/Telus(Postpaid) |
| Petro-Canada Mobility | Ztar Mobile | Rogers |
| PhoneBox | PhoneBox | Rogers (Postpaid)/Telus (Postpaid) |
| Primus Canada | Primus | Rogers |
| Public Mobile | Telus Communications | Telus |
| Roam Mobility | Roam Mobility Inc. | T-Mobile USA |
| SearsConnect Wireless | Cityfone/SearsConnect | Rogers |
| SimplyConnect | Cityfone/Scotiabank/ | Rogers |
| Solo Mobile | Bell Mobility | Bell |
| Talk & Earn | Cityfone/Bank of Montreal | Rogers |
| Talk & Save | Cityfone/Royal Bank of Canada | Rogers |
| Télébec Mobilité | Bell Aliant | Bell |
| Virgin Mobile Canada | Bell Mobility | Bell |
| ZoomerWireless | ZoomerMedia | Rogers |
- This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
See also
- List of mobile network operators of the Americas#Canada
- List of Canadian telephone companies
- List of Canadian electric utilities
References
- ↑ Wind Mobile http://www.windmobile.ca/network-and-coverage/coverage. Retrieved 11 October 2014. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "Coverage Map". Mobilicity. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ↑ "Sixth Report of the Monitor" (PDF). Ernst and Young. September 19, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
- ↑ "Q1 2014 Subscriber Stats" (PDF). CWTA. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ↑ Solomon (2013-10-22). "Provisional bidders for 700 MHz spectrum finalized". IT World Canada News. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bell lays out plan to shutter its CDMA network by January 1st, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Our new 4G network is ready
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 SaskTel Turning Down EV-DO Data Service
- ↑ Tbaytel tells customers to upgrade older cell phones
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 TELUS aims to shut down its CDMA network in 2015
External links
- Canadian mobile phone cellular tower infrastructure, on a map
- A comparison of Canadian pay-as-you-go cell phone plans
- GSM Coverage Maps | Canada
- (Bell and Telus partnership)
- Primus MVNO uses Rogers' network
- Talk and Earn uses Rogers' network
- http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1652445-Want-to-break-away-from-the-Big-3-Here-are-your-options
- http://corpo.videotron.com/site/press-room/press-release/440
- http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf09007.html
- http://mobilesyrup.com/2014/12/01/wind-adds-telus-as-roaming-partner-boasts-14-improvement-in-coverage/
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