Samsung says Note 7 owners in Canada won’t have radio functionality starting next week

By now the entire world has heard about the Note 7 and its recall. Samsung has been trying hard to get customers to return the handset, working with network providers and governments to limit features of the units that are still in the wild. Starting next week in Canada, Samsung is going to the extreme and will disable all cellular, WiFi, and Bluetooth radios as well as limit how much the battery can charge…

Samsung put out a press release today informing any remaining Canadian Note 7 customers of the upcoming changes to their phones. After Samsung disables all of the handset’s radios, the device will no longer be able to send or receive text messages, calls, or access the internet in any fashion.

The company also announced that almost 90% of all Galaxy Note 7 devices that were sold in the Canadian market have been returned. They ask that any remaining users bring back their devices for a full refund:

We strongly urge any customers still using their Note7 to return their device to the place of purchase for a refund or exchange between December 7th and December 15th.  We have been in continuous communication with Note7 customers to remind them about the need to return their recalled device and will continue to communicate daily with a push notification about this network deactivation event to ensure they continue to receive adequate notice.

This move in Canada follows similar tactics in Australia and New Zealand. Samsung hopes in turning the remaining Note 7 models on the market into paperweights, customers will be inclined to return them and either purchase another device or receive a credit.

Starting on December 12, Samsung will begin disabling WiFi and Bluetooth radios and then on December 15 all Note 7 devices will no longer be able to connect to any Canadian mobile network. If in an emergency, though, dialling 9-1-1 will still work.