The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that the chair of Montreal-based satellite company Terrestar says that to compete with American giants, it intends to partner with other "middle power" countries to build a global direct-to-cell satellite network. The Globe's Irene Galea writes that André Tremblay said the only way for countries without the scale of the United States or China to compete and be globally relevant is by building interoperable, open networks rather than relying on "fragmented national one-offs." Terrestar is hoping to raise about $500-million to develop a low-Earth-orbit system to offer mobile cellphone services over satellite, a technology that would help to fill in Canada's many cellphone dead zones where ground-based networks do not exist, with plans to launch test runs as early as next year. The company intends to deliver direct-to-mobile service through carrier partnerships, as opposed to directly to consumers. In Canada, two major telcos have announced partnerships to offer the service with U.S.-based companies: Rogers offers a satellite feature using Elon Musk's Starlink networks, and Bell Canada has said it plans to do the same in 2026 through a partnership with AST SpaceMobile.