OTTAWA _ Wireless customers will be able to cancel their cellphone contracts after two years without any penalties _ even if they've signed up for longer terms _ under a new set of rules unveiled Monday by the federal telecom regulator.

However, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission didn't go as far as an outright ban on the three-year contracts that Canadians vented so much about earlier this year as the national code for wireless services was being drafted.

``We didn't focus on the length of the contract, we focused on the economic relation,'' CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in an interview.

``So, in effect, it's equivalent to those asking for a ban of three-year contract without us actually banning three-year contracts, because what we're saying is the contract's amortization period can only be for a maximum period of 24 months.''

In the lead-up to public hearings held earlier this year, the CRTC said it heard a lot of angry comments about three-year contracts.

The regulator also had a backer in the federal Competition Bureau, which supports measures to limit contract length.

``What we were concerned about was ensuring that there was a dynamic marketplace, that is, that people didn't feel entrapped in their contracts when they want to maybe use the offer of a new entrant or a competitor across the street,'' Blais said.

``So it really is about freeing up Canadians to choose either stay with their current carrier, under renegotiated terms, or go to a competitor.''

The ability to walk away scot free from a wireless agreement after two years is one of several provisions aimed at appeasing consumers in the CRTC's new set of national standards for the content and clarity of cellphone contracts.

The CRTC is also capping extra data charges at $50 per month and international data roaming charges at $100 per month to avoid huge, surprise bills.

The regulator will require providers to allow customers to unlock their devices after 90 days, or immediately if they pay the full amount of the device.

Customers will be allowed to return their cellphones within 15 days and specified usage limits if they're unhappy with their service, and they will also be able to accept or decline any changes to two-year contracts.

The regulator is also requiring companies to produce contracts that are easy to read and understand.

The code _ which all service providers in Canada will have to abide by _ will apply to new wireless contracts starting Dec. 2.