חוק התקשורת (בזק ושידורים) (תיקון מס' 79), התשפ"ד–2024Law Communications (Telecommunications and Broadcasting) (Amendment No. 79), 2024 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The amendment establishes a detailed arrangement that enshrines a subscriber's right to receive, upon request, communication services from a licensed provider (the communications company), subject to restrictions or blocks, as detailed below. Until the enactment of the amendment, Section 51C of the Communications Law (Telecommunications and Broadcasting), 1982, established 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, it was possible to request restrictions and blocks 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 operated in the cellular market for many years, applying to approximately 600,000 subscribers, known as the 'kosher tier,' under which subscribers who chose to do so received telephony services subject to restrictions and blocks matching their lifestyle, including restricting access to internet services, blocking calls to certain numbers, and even restricting number portability so that the number could not be ported to a plan including communication services not subject to the restrictions the subscriber had originally requested. The amendment enables, 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 is based on the subscriber's consent. The amendment establishes that a subscriber or group of subscribers may request a licensed provider, in an explicit request submitted in a documentable manner, to receive a telecommunications service, namely a telephony service, subject to restrictions or blocks ('a designated service package'). The subscriber or group of subscribers may also request to receive the said service subject to restrictions or blocks set by a particular entity that they specified in their request. Among the restrictions or blocks a subscriber may request within a designated service package: restricting dialing to telephone numbers; restrictions applying to the cellular device; and restricting number portability. At the same time, the amendment establishes exceptions and protections for subscribers requesting the restrictions or blocks, as well as exceptions for the purpose of preserving competition in the communications field. Regarding restricting dialing to telephone numbers, the amendment establishes that a licensed provider shall send a notice to the subscriber that dialing to their telephone number has been restricted, and the notice shall also specify which entity requested the number be blocked. The amendment also establishes provisions aimed at increasing transparency regarding blocked telephone numbers of entities, and provisions prohibiting a licensed provider from transferring to entities that set restrictions or blocks information contained in its database. Regarding mobile terminal equipment, namely the cellular device itself, the amendment establishes that a subscriber may request restrictions or blocks on the device, dedicating it to specific communications equipment, as well as dedicating a designated service package to a device, to a range of telephone numbers, and more. Linking the device to a designated service package is possible, under the amendment, only if the device can operate within the same designated service package offered by another licensed provider, and only if there are three models of cellular devices manufactured by different manufacturers that can be used within this framework. Regarding number portability, the amendment establishes that it can be restricted with the subscriber's explicit consent and subject to several exceptions, according to which such a restriction is possible only if the subscriber has the option to port their telephone number within the designated service package, namely between cellular providers; only if several providers operate in the market offering service in accordance with the designated service package and encompassing a minimum number of subscribers; and only if the designated 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 cancelled, the subscriber will not be able to port their telephone number outside the designated service package, and the licensed provider will only be permitted to allocate the telephone number within the designated service package to which the number is assigned. At the same time, the amendment establishes provisions intended to facilitate the subscriber's transition out of the designated service package if they choose to do so, including provisions whereby the licensed provider shall not allocate to another person the telephone number of a subscriber whose agreement was cancelled for 9 months from the date of cancellation, and shall play a voice message to callers to the telephone number stating that the subscriber has changed their telephone number and what the new number is, at the subscriber's request. Regarding restricting dialing to telephone numbers, the amendment establishes an obligation on the licensed provider to set and implement clear, detailed and equal criteria for such dialing restriction, provided that implementation of the criteria is done with regard to the characteristics of the group of subscribers that requested the restrictions or blocks. The amendment further establishes that it is possible to appeal both the criteria themselves and the restriction of dialing to a specific telephone number in violation of the criteria, before an authorized body at the Ministry of Communications. In this matter, the amendment imposes transparency obligations on the licensed provider, under which it must, among other things, report to the Minister of Communications and publish on its website reports containing general data regarding dialing restrictions it has implemented. The amendment further establishes a prohibition on blocking telephone numbers of various types, including essential telephone numbers and telephone numbers of the state and its institutions, abbreviated telephone numbers of 3 or 4 digits, telephone numbers of local authorities intended for providing essential municipal services, a prohibition on blanket blocking of subscribers of a particular communications company, and a prohibition on blocking telephone numbers of political parties during election periods. In addition, the amendment establishes a prohibition on blocking 'personal message' notifications, which are security messages sent using dedicated technology. This is alongside establishing a prohibition on using this technology to send non-security messages. The amendment additionally establishes a prohibition on blocking telephone numbers of emergency hotlines and physical or mental first-aid assistance hotlines, as the Minister of Communications shall determine 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. Initial Regulations on this matter shall be brought for the approval of the Economic Affairs Committee within four months from the date of publication of the amendment, and if not brought for such approval, from that date a licensed provider shall not permit blocking dialing to telephone numbers of assistance hotlines if there is a significant-scale engagement, including operation of a human response service, between a government ministry and the body operating the hotline. The amendment further grants the Director-General of the Ministry of Communications authority to impose a monetary sanction on a licensed provider that carried out a restriction or block in violation of the said provisions. Since, within the restrictions and blocks a subscriber may request under the amendment, the subscriber may also request that their cellular device be restricted or blocked so that it cannot be used 'outside' the designated service package, the amendment establishes that a licensed provider selling cellular devices subject to such a restriction or block must offer, alongside their sale, also a device rental option instead of purchase, at the customer's choice, to facilitate the customer's transition to a device not subject to the restrictions. The amendment also includes an indirect amendment to the Consumer Protection Law, 1981, dealing with the prohibition on misleading a consumer regarding a material detail in a transaction. The amendment establishes that a representation on or in connection with an item indicating the use, benefit, or risks involved therein shall be deemed a material detail in a transaction. Thereby, the amendment clarifies that labeling devices that do not comply with the relevant restrictions and blocks as devices that do comply with them constitutes a violation of the prohibition on misleading a consumer regarding a material detail in a transaction. This is intended to address the phenomenon of forging 'identification numbers' of telephone devices subject to restrictions or blocks. The amendment further establishes transitional provisions that will allow arrangements that operated prior to the amendment's entry into force, such as the kosher tier, to continue operating. In this regard, the amendment establishes that subjecting a service used by a subscriber to new restrictions or blocks not included in the existing agreement with them requires the subscriber's explicit consent. In addition, the amendment includes a mechanism requiring communications companies to contact all existing subscribers to verify that they indeed consent to the restrictions and blocks within the designated service package. The amendment entered into force on 29 October 2024.

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Sponsors

Yinon Azoulay, Yosef Taieb, Israel Eichler, Ofir Katz, Moshe Gafni

What was said in the plenum

The law enshrines in legislation the status of the "kosher tier" - an arrangement allowing subscribers to choose cellular telephony services subject to content restrictions and blocks according to their preferences, while limiting their ability to port their number outside that tier. The debate centered mainly on the question of whether the law enshrines a legitimate freedom of choice for the Haredi public to adapt their communication consumption to their lifestyle, or whether it legalizes a monopoly of the "Rabbinical Committee for Communications" that harms individual rights, competition and number portability.

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An automatic summary of the plenum transcripts: the debate on the bill at every reading it was voted on. Arguments are given as the speakers made them; this is not an assessment. The list of speakers comes from the transcript, without a model. A very long debate: every speech was shortened to the same length before summarising. Transcripts of the sittings: 1, 2, 3

Reservations to the second reading

147 reservations were filed: proposed changes to the text the committee brought to the second and third reading.

The reservations are mainly intended to limit the blocking and restriction powers of certain corporations, to extend and clarify the warning and appeal periods for subscribers, to expand the list of bodies protected from blocking, to impose compensation and civil torts for violations, and to set additional conditions for licensing corporations that impose restrictions or blocks.

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By faction

• Hadash–Ta'al opposition · 45 reservations · 5 members
• Labor opposition · 38 reservations · 4 members
• Yesh Atid opposition · 29 reservations · 24 members
• New Hope opposition · 23 reservations · 4 members
• Yisrael Beytenu opposition · 23 reservations · 6 members
• National Unity opposition · 12 reservations · 8 members

A joint reservation counts for every faction whose members filed it.

Asked to speak: Mansour Abbas (Ra'am), Waleed Taha (Ra'am), Waleed Alhwashla (Ra'am), Iman Khatib Yassin (Ra'am), Yasir Hujeirat (Ra'am)

Proposers and reservation numbers are extracted automatically from the committee version, and the count is checked against the numbers printed in it. The descriptions are an automatic summary. Committee version for the second and third reading (PDF)