An Act to amend the Radiocommunication Act
Bill S-242 (44-1) was a Senate Private Member's Bill from Senator Dennis Patterson (Nunavut) to amend the Radiocommunication Act with a 'use it or lose it' rule for wireless spectrum. Licence holders would have had to deploy their spectrum to at least 50 percent of the population in a licensed area within a set time or risk losing the licence, a response to large carriers holding spectrum in rural and remote areas without building service there. Patterson, who represented Nunavut, framed it around the connectivity gap in the North. The bill cleared the Senate but was defeated at second reading in the House of Commons on November 8, 2023.
Status
Quick learn
Would force wireless companies to actually use the spectrum they hold, deploying it to at least half the population in a licensed area or risk losing the licence. Aimed at rural and northern coverage gaps. A Senate bill from Senator Dennis Patterson; the Commons defeated it at second reading in 2023.
Issues this bill touches
- Affordable Internet & Digital Equity
'Use it or lose it' rules for telecom spectrum licences. Targets unused spectrum hoarding that delays rural broadband.
Legislative history
- First reading
First reading in the Senate.
View source - Second reading
Second reading in the Senate.
View source - Third reading
Third reading in the Senate.
View source - First reading
First reading in the House of Commons.
View source
Official source
Read full text on Parliament of Canada