The ''Cell Phone Freedom Act'' (formally ''An Act respecting the locking of cellular telephones'') was a private member's bill proposed twice to the Parliament of Canada which would have required mobile phone providers remove the

SIM lock SIM lock, simlock, network lock, carrier lock or (master) subsidy lock is a technical restriction built into GSM and CDMA mobile phones by mobile phone manufacturers for use by service providers to restrict the use of these phones to specific co ...

from devices once a customer reaches the end of their contract. It was first introduced on June 17, 2010 in the House of Commons of Canada as Bill C-560 by

Bruce Hyer Bruce Tolhurst Hyer (born August 6, 1946) is a Canadian politician, businessman, and ecologist. He is the former deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada and the former Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay—Superior North. Hyer was elected ...

, then the New Democratic Party Small Business Critic and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Thunder Bay—Superior North Thunder Bay—Superior North (french: Thunder Bay—Supérieur-Nord; formerly known as Thunder Bay—Nipigon) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1976. It is i ...

. Bill C-560 was expired due to the government's defeat in March 2011. Hyer reintroduced the ''Cell Phone Freedom Act'' under the new session of parliament on November 3, 2011, as Bill C-343.

Provisions

The ''Cell Phone Freedom Act'', if passed, would have mandated that: * consumers buying new cell phones in Canada must be informed of the existence of any

(also known as a network lock) on their phone before sale; * wireless phone companies must unlock handsets upon request, without fee, when a consumer purchases a new phone outright (unsubsidized) without a contract; * wireless phone companies must unlock handsets upon request, without fee, when a consumer comes to the end of their contract, or at any time thereafter. Under the proposed legislation, wireless service providers may still employ such locks on customer phones while under contract, so it is unlikely to impact the common practice of offering subsidized phones on contracts.

Results

Rogers Wireless Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian wireless telephone company headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of just under $15.1 billi ...

(and its sub-brand

Fido Solutions Fido is a Canadian mobile network operator owned by Rogers Communications. Since its acquisition by Rogers in 2004, it has operated as a Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using the Rogers Wireless network. Fido's logo is a yellow doghouse ...

) announced on December 15, 2010 that they would start offering to unlock all of their customers handsets for a flat fee of $50, in response to public pressure on the issue. The other two major national carriers, Bell Mobility and

Telus Mobility Telus Mobility (normally typeset as TELUS Mobility) is a Canadian wireless network operator and a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. It operates 5G, LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstre ...

, and their sub-brands followed suit in early 2011 provided that the device operated on their network as well as having a postpaid account for at least 90 days. While the bill never became law,

ing was ultimately banned in Canada on December 1, 2017 as part of amendments to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's Wireless Code. All new devices in Canada must be sold unlocked, and carriers must offer to unlock existing phones free-of-charge.{{cite web, title=Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2017-200, date=June 15, 2017 , url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-200.htm, publisher=CRTC, accessdate=June 15, 2017

References

External links

The Wireless Code, simplified
Proposed laws of Canada Mobile telecommunications 2010 in Canadian law