The federal government has ordered Rogers Communications to provide all passengers on Toronto’s subway system with access to cellular connectivity no later than October 3, 2023.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced new spectrum licence conditions yesterday, alongside Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and several Toronto-area members of Parliament.

The new conditions require all mobile carriers currently operating in Toronto to ‘’quickly begin work to expand existing network coverage in order to provide full voice, text and data services throughout the TTC subway system’’ by the end of 2026.

The government says should mobile carriers fail to meet the conditions, companies could face fines or spectrum licence suspension.