Key Highlights
- Bell becomes Perplexity’s exclusive telecom partner in Canada, offering eligible customers a free year of Perplexity Pro worth nearly $300
- Announcement comes ahead of the back-to-school season, which aims to make advanced AI tools
- Perplexity Pro access includes top AI models, unlimited file analysis, and image generation tools
On August 11, Bell Canada, a major Canadian telecommunications and media company, announced its partnership with Perplexity, a rapidly growing AI-based search platform. This deal will make Bell the exclusive telecom partner for the service in Canada.
According to the official press release, the partnership will allow eligible Bell customers to get a free 12-month subscription to Perplexity Pro, which actually costs close to $300.
The announcement comes just before the back-to-school season, a crucial time when students, professionals, and families are preparing for the busy schedules.
Bell says that the move is part of its wider plan to put artificial intelligence tools directly in the hands of everyday Canadians, using its high-speed internet and award-winning 5G networks. This will allow millions of Canadians to use AI tools smoothly.
Blaik Kirby, Group President, Consumer and Small Business, Bell, stated that, “Artificial intelligence tools are fundamentally reshaping how we interact with information. Through our partnership with Perplexity, we’re giving millions of Canadians the opportunity to experience the best of AI – powered by Bell’s award-winning networks, wherever they are. Whether conducting research, uploading files or generating content, the speed and performance of Bell’s networks are the key to delivering massive amounts of data in real time.”
Perplexity Aims to Become the Best AI-Based Search Engine
The AI tool has grabbed headlines for itself as a conversational answer engine. One can think of it as a search engine that talks back and shows where it got its information. The purpose of this tool is to save users time by giving quick, accurate answers supported with source citations. Instead of sending you dozens of links, it pulls together the facts for you.
The Pro version that Bell customers will receive unlocks access to some of the world’s most advanced AI models, including GPT-5, Claude 4.0, and Gemini 2.5 Pro. Apart from this, the Pro version includes:
- 600 daily Pro searches
- Unlimited file uploads and analysis
- Image generation tools
- Advanced summarization and citation features
- Early access to Comet, Perplexity’s upcoming AI-based web browser
Ryan Foutty, VP of Business at Perplexity, said that “We are excited to collaborate with Bell to bring Perplexity Pro to users in Canada. Accurate, trustworthy answers are essential to millions of decisions that Canadians make every day, and Bell’s commitment to customer-centric innovation makes it a natural partner to provide valuable technology that improves daily life for all customers.”
How Bell Customers Can Access Perplexity Pro
Bell Mobility customers will start receiving redemption codes in the upcoming days, while Bell Internet customers will gain access starting in fall 2025. Codes will be sent by email and text, and will also be visible in each customer’s MyBell account.
Perplexity’s Response to Claims About Airtel’s ‘Pro-Lite’ AI Service and Recent Controversy
A few days ago, Perplexity.ai responded to claims circulating on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) that Airtel’s free Perplexity Pro offer is a watered-down version of its paid plan.
The response comes after a post on r/developersIndia alleged that the bundled plan performed worse than even the free tier, with slower responses, no charts, missing citations, and shallower information.
The post, backed by a three-way test between a standard paid account, a free account, and the Airtel-bundled plan, claimed that the Airtel version consistently came last in performance.
The author accused both Airtel and Perplexity of failing to disclose such “feature limitations,” arguing that advertising it as a Rs 17,000-a-year plan without clarifications misleads customers, particularly students and professionals depending on AI for work.
Jesse Dwyer, speaking for Perplexity.ai, refuted this allegation, saying, “Having worked personally with the Airtel team throughout this partnership, and also being familiar with the specific terms of this deal, I can assure you that it is absolutely false that Airtel customers get a different version of Perplexity Pro than our Pro subscribers. We are accustomed to misinformation about Perplexity online, and how some people on Reddit and X use misinformation about Perplexity in order to boost their follower counts, but India is very dear to us as a company and we would hope to be able to correct this misunderstanding for Indian readers.”
Amid the boom in the AI sector, the global AI market is expected to see explosive growth, which is expected to skyrocket from $18.22 billion in 2025 to $94.30 billion by 2030, according to a latest report by MarketsandMarkets.
