Bell Hit 10 Million Subscribers but Your Phone Bill Is Getting Cheaper

Bell reported its first quarter results for 2026 on Thursday, posting revenue growth alongside a modest dip in net earnings as the company pushes deeper into 5G and artificial intelligence.

Total revenue rose 4% to just over $6.1 billion, while net earnings slipped 2.3% to $667 million, weighed down by higher taxes and infrastructure costs.

Bell crossed the 10 million mobile phone subscriber mark during the quarter, driven by a turnaround in postpaid additions. The company added nearly 17,000 net new monthly phone subscribers, a swing from the losses it recorded in the same period last year.

But that growth was offset by mobile phone postpaid customer churn that increased to 1.34%, compared to 1.21% last year. This is the rate at which customers jumped ship to another wireless carrier. Bell said this was blamed on a “more competitive market environment and elevated promotional activity.”

Much of that growth came from customers moving to 5G+ plans and bringing their own devices. That said, competition is showing up in the numbers. The average monthly bill per user fell 0.8% year over year to $56.61 as Bell leaned on promotions and discounts to hold onto customers. You can thank Freedom Mobile’s global plans for pushing for greater roaming competition.

Revenue from Bell’s AI-powered business solutions more than doubled year over year, growing 113% in the quarter. To support that growth, the company announced a 300 MW AI data centre near Regina, developed in partnership with the Saskatchewan government. Bell also launched 5G+ Advanced during the quarter, which it says is its fastest wireless network to date.

Crave had its strongest quarter on record, reaching 4.74 million subscribers. The streaming gains came even as traditional TV advertising continued to soften. On the home internet side, Bell added roughly 50,000 new fibre customers, a number boosted by its acquisition of Ziply Fiber in the United States.