Bell Canada president and CEO Mirko Bibic said the company is ready to take on SpaceX’s Starlink internet and others on Thursday.
The company released its first quarter earnings on April 29, seeing $5.7 billion in revenue, a slight 1.2% gain compared to the year-ago quarter. Net earnings were $678 million, down 6.3% from the year-ago quarter.
Back in February, Bell said it would invest up $1-1.2 billion to build out its wireless fibre optic internet to the home over the next two years.
When asked during its earnings call about being challenged by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the latter’s Starlink internet offering now available in Canada, Bibic touted the company’s ability to expand internet to rural areas using its wireless to the home solution.
Eventually, the rural wireless internet expansion will reach one million households across various provinces such as from Manitoba all the way to Newfoundland, said the Bell CEO.
“And I stand that up against Starlink or other LEO (low Earth orbit) competitors, any day,” said Bibic, as reported by The Canadian Press.
Hey @elonmusk please hurry to Muskoka. @Bell internet “speed” is killing me! #Starlink pic.twitter.com/aWIoT6Gwp2
— kaj ballantyne (@kajballantyne) April 29, 2021
Hey @bell we need to talk. I’ve been paying $135 a month for the fastest internet you could give me (FIBE 100) and it’s always been trash. For two years it’s been unreliable and slow. I just found out this is where my internet comes from… pic.twitter.com/LH9i1SEyns
— Jesse Driftwood (@jessedriftwood1) April 28, 2021
Tired of Bell and Rogers….I switched to Starlink even though I can get High speed internet where I am.
— Glenn Sullivan (@firenewfsully) April 22, 2021
A quick search on Twitter easily shows numerous rural Bell customers seeking faster solutions and Starlink is one of them.
SpaceX continues to expand its satellite constellation at a consistent and rapid rate, with another batch of 60 launched into orbit last night. You can click here to sign up for Starlink internet beta on a first-come, first-served basis.
