Rogers chief executive Tony Staffieri told analysts on the Canadian carrier’s third-quarter earnings call on Friday that SpaceX’s public filings with Canada’s federal spectrum department show the company intends to work with wireless operators in Canada, according to the technology site iPhone in Canada, which reported the call. Staffieri pointed to what SpaceX has said, in his words, “publicly in their filings with ISED,” and said the company intends “to work with wireless operators” there.
That account is so far the only published one. Starlink News has not reviewed Rogers’ own transcript of the call, and SpaceX has issued no statement of its own about retail plans in Canada; every quote below is as reported by iPhone in Canada.
Key facts
- Rogers is “proactively deepening” its work with Starlink on satellite-to-mobile connectivity and “intends to lead Canada” on expanded coverage and capability, Staffieri said.
- Rogers Satellite has been in market with its present capabilities for almost a year, and he said the carrier now understands its use cases and, in his words, “its limitations today.”
- He called satellite a “complementary evolving product” alongside Rogers’ wireline and terrestrial wireless services, not a replacement for them.
- The remarks came in answers to analysts at UBS and JPMorgan, who asked how Starlink could reshape the competitive landscape.
Why it matters
The practical question for subscribers has always been whether SpaceX sells to phone users itself or routes service through the carrier they already pay. If SpaceX does what Staffieri says its filings describe, Starlink Mobile reaches Canadian handsets through operators rather than as a standalone rival to Rogers, Bell and Telus. That is the shape of deals elsewhere, including satellite texting sold through an existing mobile operator and Starlink Mobile’s first year working with the operator group VEON, which Starlink News reported reached about 11 million phones.
Why Staffieri says Canada is different
Far less spectrum is available in Canada than in the United States, he said, and the bands tied to SpaceX’s most recent American acquisition are “extremely limited” or unavailable north of the border because they are largely used by the public sector. That acquisition — 800 MHz of spectrum, in a deal that knocked 13% off US telecom stocks when Starlink News covered it this month as SpaceX went buying spectrum in the United States — has no Canadian equivalent on the market.
He also cited Canada’s smaller population, concentrated in a handful of urban markets, and federal foreign ownership rules, which he noted extend to the ownership of spectrum itself. Spectrum and foreign ownership were the same two hurdles iPhone in Canada flagged earlier this year, when a SpaceX-run mobile network in Canada first looked possible.
Satellite internet, and the missing numbers
On the fixed side, Staffieri put Starlink’s share of Canada’s home internet market at “very small,” saying it mostly serves rural customers with no other alternative. Rogers resells the service to small businesses and layers its own business application services on top, and he said the carrier’s rural expansion is increasingly coming through the SpaceX partnership, calling the enterprise and internet-of-things use cases “tremendous.” He attached no figures to any of it: the account contains no Rogers Satellite subscriber count, no Starlink Canada user total and no percentage behind “very small,” which leaves the competitive claim unmeasurable from the outside.
What rivals are doing
Bell is building its own satellite ground station, while Telus has completed a first satellite-to-phone test with AST SpaceMobile, the US operator developing direct-to-handset service, iPhone in Canada reported. Both are working on voice and data, beyond the texting Rogers Satellite carries today.
What is still unknown
No date was given for expanded Starlink Mobile capability in Canada, and nothing in the report shows how the ISED filings translate into a commercial launch. Rogers’ position rests on its own reading of regulatory paperwork that Staffieri did not quote at length, and the counter-example he drew the contrast against — SpaceX acquiring spectrum of its own in the United States — is still live. Readers in markets where Starlink arrived through a local partner will recognise the pattern: the partnership is announced long before the tariff is.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ISED, and why would SpaceX’s filings there reveal its plans?
ISED is Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, the federal department that issues spectrum licences and telecom authorisations. Anyone who wants to operate a mobile network or use satellite spectrum over Canada has to file with it, and those filings are public record. That is why, according to iPhone in Canada, Staffieri could point to the paperwork as evidence of SpaceX’s intent rather than to any SpaceX announcement — there has not been one about Canadian retail service.
How is Starlink Mobile different from Starlink satellite internet?
Starlink’s internet service needs a dish installed at a fixed address and a subscription for that location. Starlink Mobile uses direct-to-cell satellites that talk to ordinary handsets with no extra hardware, which is why Starlink News reported it reached roughly 11 million phones in its first year working with the operator group VEON. The trade-off is capability: direct-to-cell deployments start with text messaging, with voice and data coming later, while a dish delivers full broadband.
What can Rogers Satellite do today, and does it work in the United States?
Rogers Satellite currently handles text messaging, text-to-911 and a short list of apps including WhatsApp and Google Maps, according to iPhone in Canada. It also gives Rogers customers satellite coverage inside the United States through T-Satellite, the satellite network run by US carrier T-Mobile. There is no voice calling or general data browsing on the product as it stands.
Has Rogers published pricing for expanded Starlink Mobile service in Canada?
No. iPhone in Canada reported that Staffieri gave analysts no pricing, no new features and no timing. In the markets Starlink News has covered, direct-to-cell service has arrived as a feature a carrier folds into its own plans rather than as a separate Starlink subscription — the model Staffieri describes for Canada — but published prices have typically trailed the partnership announcement by months.
Follow Starlink News on Google. Make us a preferred source to see more of our reporting in Google search results.
![Using Your Own Router with Starlink: Bypass Mode [2026]](https://starlink-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/using-your-own-router-with-starlink-bypass-mode-20-f6c09f95-120x86.png)
