Phone Providers in Canada

Canadian mobile network operators and their subsidiaries

The Big Three cell phone providers in Canada are Rogers, Bell and Telus. Approximately 89% of Canadians mobile phone users subscribe to one of these operators or one of their subsidiary brands. As of December 2019, there were over 33.2 million wireless subscriptions in Canada of which Rogers had 10.8 million subscribers, Bell 9.9 million and Telus 8.7 million.

Other major players include Freedom Mobile (1.7 million subscribers in big cities across Canada), SaskTel (600,000 in Saskatchewan) and Quebecor (1.3 million in Quebec and Ottawa).

The remaining 11% of subscriptions are to smaller regional operators and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that resell access to the national carriers’ networks.

All cell phone providers in Canada

The following is a list of all cell phone providers sorted by the network they use. Major operators have been bolded.

What is an mobile virtual network operator (MVNO)?

An MVNO is provider of wireless communications services that does not own the underlying infrastructure used to provide services to it’s customers. It has contracts with a network operator such as Rogers, Bell or Telus to buy bulk network services at wholesale rates and then resells that access to customers in the service territory with their own plans, prices and customer service. In contrast, network operators own, operate and maintain the equipment, facilities and rights to the wireless spectrum required to provide cellular service to customers.

Regional providers own and operate their own transmission equipment and facilities, but rely on partnerships with the major service providers to connect their customers when they are outside their service territory.

Regulation

All service providers in Canada are regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

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