Communications (Telecommunications and Broadcasting) Law (Amendment No. 79) Bill

What does the bill do?

The amendment sets a detailed arrangement enshrining a subscriber's right to receive, at their request, communications services from a licensed provider (the communications company), subject to restrictions or blocks, as detailed below. Until the amendment was enacted, Section 51C of the Communications (Telecommunications and Broadcasting) Law, 1982, set an arrangement regarding the ability of a subscriber or group of subscribers to receive from a communications provider services subject to restrictions or blocks, if they requested this in a specific and explicit request submitted separately from the service agreement. Under that section, restrictions and blocks could be requested regarding the following matters: services provided over the internet; features and characteristics of terminal equipment or communications equipment (such as the cellular devices themselves); and the subscriber's ability to use such equipment on any suitable telecommunications network. By virtue of that section, an arrangement applying to about 600,000 subscribers, known as the "kosher tier," operated in the cellular market for many years, under which subscribers who chose it received telephone services subject to restrictions and blocks matching their way of life, including restricting access to internet services, blocking calls to certain numbers, and even restricting phone number portability so that the number could not be ported to a plan that includes communications services not subject to the restrictions the subscriber originally requested. The amendment allows, among other things, the continued operation of the kosher tier. The amendment deals with the relationship between the communications company and the subscriber who entered into an agreement with it, and it is based on the subscriber's consent. The amendment sets that a subscriber or group of subscribers may request from a licensed provider, in an explicit request submitted in a way that can be documented, to receive a telecommunications service, that is, telephone service, subject to restrictions or blocks (a "dedicated service package"). The subscriber or group of subscribers may also request to receive that service subject to restrictions or blocks set by a specific corporation they named in their request. Among the restrictions or blocks a subscriber may request as part of a dedicated service package: restricting dialing to phone numbers; restrictions that will apply to the cellular device; and restricting number portability. Alongside this, the amendment sets limitations and protections for subscribers requesting the restrictions or blocks, as well as limitations intended to preserve competition in the communications field. Regarding restricting dialing to phone numbers, the amendment sets that a licensed provider will send a notice to a subscriber when dialing to their phone number has been restricted, and the notice will also state which corporation requested to block the number. The amendment also sets provisions intended to increase transparency regarding phone numbers of corporations that were blocked, and provisions prohibiting a licensed provider from transferring information contained in its database to the corporations that set restrictions or blocks. Regarding cellular terminal equipment, that is, the cellular device itself, the amendment sets that a subscriber may request restrictions or blocks of the device, its dedication to specific communications equipment, as well as dedicating a dedicated service package to the device, to a range of phone numbers, and more. Under the amendment, linking the device to a dedicated service package is possible only if the device can operate within the same dedicated service package offered by another licensed provider, and only if there are three models of cellular devices made by different manufacturers that can be used within this framework. Regarding number portability, the amendment sets that it can be restricted with the subscriber's explicit consent and subject to several limitations, under which such a restriction is possible only if the subscriber has the option to port their phone number within the dedicated service package, that is, between cellular providers; only if several providers operate in the market offering service in accordance with the dedicated service package and covering a minimum number of subscribers; and only if the dedicated service package includes a significant restriction or block of more than one telecommunications service. Under the amendment, if the agreement between the subscriber and the provider includes such a portability restriction, in the event the agreement is canceled, the subscriber will not be able to port their phone number outside the dedicated service package, and the licensed provider may allocate the phone number only within the dedicated service package to which the number is assigned. At the same time, the amendment sets provisions intended to make it easier for the subscriber to move outside the dedicated service package if they choose to, including provisions under which the licensed provider will not allocate the phone number of a subscriber whose agreement was canceled to another person for 9 months from the cancellation, and, at the subscriber's request, will play a voice message to callers to the phone number stating that the subscriber has changed their phone number and what the new number is. Regarding restricting dialing to phone numbers, the amendment imposes an obligation on the licensed provider to set and apply clear, detailed and equal criteria for such dialing restrictions, provided that the criteria are applied with regard to the characteristics of the group of subscribers that requested the restrictions or blocks. The amendment further sets that both the criteria themselves and the restriction of dialing to a specific phone number contrary to the criteria can be appealed before an authorized official in the Ministry of Communications. In this regard, the amendment imposes transparency obligations on the licensed provider, under which it must, among other things, submit to the Minister of Communications and publish on its website reports containing general data on the dialing restrictions to phone numbers that it carried out. The amendment further prohibits blocking phone numbers of various types, including essential phone numbers and phone numbers of the state and its institutions, short phone numbers of 3 or 4 digits, and phone numbers of local authorities intended for providing essential municipal services; it prohibits blanket blocking of the subscribers of a particular communications company, and prohibits blocking phone numbers of parties during an election period. In addition, the amendment prohibits blocking "personal message" alerts, which are security messages sent using dedicated technology. This is alongside a prohibition on using this technology to send messages that are not security-related. The amendment also prohibits blocking phone numbers of emergency and support hotlines for physical or mental first aid, as the Minister of Communications will set in regulations, in consultation with the Minister of Health and the Minister of Welfare and Social Security and with the approval of the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee. The first regulations on this matter will be brought for the approval of the Economic Affairs Committee within four months of the amendment's publication, and if they are not brought for approval as stated, from that date a licensed provider will not allow blocking of dialing to phone numbers of support hotlines if there is a significant engagement, including operation of a human response service, between a government ministry and the body that operates the hotline. The amendment further grants the Director General of the Ministry of Communications the authority to impose a monetary sanction on a licensed provider that carried out a restriction or block contrary to these provisions. Since, among the restrictions and blocks a subscriber may request under the amendment, they may also request that their cellular device be restricted or blocked so that it cannot be used "outside" the dedicated service package, the amendment sets that a licensed provider that sells cellular devices subject to such a restriction or block must, alongside selling them, also offer an option of renting the device instead of buying it, at the customer's choice, to make it easier for them to switch to a device that is not subject to restrictions. The amendment also includes an indirect amendment to the Consumer Protection Law, 1981, concerning the prohibition on misleading a consumer about a material detail in a transaction. The amendment sets that a representation in or on a product that indicates its use, its benefit or the risks involved in it will be considered a material detail in the transaction. In doing so, the amendment clarifies that labeling devices that do not comply with the relevant restrictions and blocks as devices that do comply with them is a violation of the prohibition on misleading the consumer about a material detail in a transaction. This is in order to address the phenomenon of forging the "identification numbers" of telephone devices subject to restrictions or blocks. The amendment further sets transitional provisions that will allow arrangements that operated on the eve of the amendment's entry into force, such as the kosher tier, to continue operating. In this regard, the amendment sets that subjecting the service a subscriber uses to new restrictions or blocks, not included in the existing agreement with them, requires the subscriber's explicit consent. In addition, the amendment also includes a mechanism requiring the communications companies to contact all existing subscribers to verify that they do indeed consent to the restrictions and blocks within the dedicated service package. The amendment took effect on October 29, 2024.