Call for a ban on the "locking" of mobile devices

At the moment, when a consumer purchases a mobile device from a service provider, even at full price (at which point the service provider is no longer subsidizing the purchase, as it does under term contracts), that device will be locked to that service providers network (a practice called SIM locking) and can therefore be used only on that network. This makes it effectively impossible to switch carriers, even upon expiry of a contract, while keeping the same device. Not only is this practice anti-competitive, it is an affront to the environment.

Certain countries (including Greece, Finland, Singapore, China) have banned the practice of SIM locking outright, while others require carriers to inform consumers of the practice and unlock their phones on request (France, Italy, Switzerland, Romania).

This anti-competitive, monopolistic practice has no place in Canada and must stop.

I therefore call on the governments of Canada, its provinces and its territories, to ban the practice of locking mobile communication devices (mobile phones, smart phones, etc.) to specific mobile carriers.