Today, April 26, Rogers Communications Inc. announced it signed an agreement with SpaceX to provide Starlink satellite-to-cellular service in Canada. Rogers is Canada’s leading wireless, cable and media telecommunications company with over 10.4 million subscribers. The company seeks to build a robust network by using SpaceX's Starlink satellites in Low Earth Orbit to expand its coverage across Canada for direct “satellite-to-phone service nation-wide to ensure Canadians stay connected in areas beyond the limits of traditional wireless networks.”
The satellite-to-phone coverage will work with all 5G and 4G smartphones without the need of any additional hardware. Initially, the companies will provide satellite coverage for SMS/MMS text messaging and eventually provide voice and internet data directly to Rogers’ customer smartphones. Starlink satellites are capable of providing service to remote and rural regions globally, including Canada’s wilderness and national parks where terrestrial communication is unreliable or completely unavailable.
“As a Canadian, I’m excited that SpaceX is collaborating with Rogers to bring SpaceX’s Direct to Cell service to Canadians. I'm proud of the impact this will have across the country wherever Canadians may work, play or travel,” said Sara Spangelo, co-lead for Direct to Cell at SpaceX.
“As the country’s biggest investor in 5G spectrum with Canada’s largest 5G network, Rogers is proud to work with SpaceX to expand wireless coverage across all of Canada, from coast-to-coast, to keep Canadians connected and safe,” said Rogers President and CEO Tony Staffieri. “In the future, these investments will deliver wireless connectivity, including access to 911, to even the most remote areas,” they stated in a press release.
Rogers is now the fourth company to sign a satellite-to-cellular agreement with SpaceX. The first company to sign such a deal in August 2022 was American telecommunications company ‘T-Mobile.’ SpaceX and T-Mobile are working to initiate testing of the satellite-to-cellular service sometime this year, as previously reported by TESMANIAN. Then European telecommunications company ‘Salt’ partnered with SpaceX in March this year, followed by ‘One New Zealand’ in early April. Read more: One New Zealand partners with SpaceX Starlink to provide satellite-to-cellular service. As of today, SpaceX operates approximately 3,923 Starlink satellites in Low Earth Orbit that already provide high-speed internet service to over one million subscribers living across all seven continents.
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Featured Image Source: SpaceX
About the Author
Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
