A smartphone sold by French hardware manufacturer Alcatel has been pulled from Canadian shelves following a failure to comply with federal regulations.
According to an Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) spokesperson who spoke with MobileSyrup via email, the Alcatel U50 — a budget Android device sold by Bell, Telus and Freedom Mobile — failed to meet the Government of Canada’s wireless radio frequency energy exposure limits.
“In a recent audit, the Alcatel U50 failed to comply with the limits established by the Government of Canada but remains well within the safety margins,” explained the spokesperson.
“The limits for exposure to wireless radio frequency energy include a 50-fold safety margin below the threshold for adverse health effects.”
ISED reassured MobileSyrup that the phone poses no health risk to users, but the phone will nonetheless no longer be for sale until the issue is resolved.
The federal government hasn’t issued a recall order for the Alcatel U50.
Alcatel confirmed to MobileSyrup that the company is currently working on a software update to correct the issue, and expects it to be available soon.
ISED is also working with Alcatel to ensure that the manufacturer is able to come up with a solution and to ensure the device’s compliance with federal standards.
A Bell spokesperson told MobileSyrup via email that the carrier has “temporarily stopped selling this model while the manufacturer is working on a software update.”
The device pictured in the header image is an Alcatel 5, not an Alcatel U50.
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