Mr. Speaker, Industry Canada’s interests relate primarily to managing the radio frequency spectrum, a limited resource. For this reason, no differentiation is made as to whether an antenna is, for example, located on a tower, on top of a building or is using an existing structure such as a water tower or hydro pole. Accordingly, our database does not record the number of towers as distinct from antennas. On November 22, 2010, the Minister of Industry announced that there will be a review of the tower-sharing policy as part of Canada’s digital economy strategy. As part of this review, Industry Canada expects to be able to approximate the number of cellphone towers throughout Canada by late spring.
In the House of Commons on January 31st, 2011. See this statement in context.