Supplementary Immediate Report – Amendment to the Communications Law regarding change in the regulatory regime for the Telecommunications Sector
Bezeq - The Israel Telecommunications Corp. Ltd.
(the “Company”)
October 2, 2022
Attn.
Israel Securities Authority
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Ltd.
Dear Madam/Sir,
Supplementary Immediate Report – Amendment to the Communications Law regarding Change in the Regulatory Regime for the Telecommunications Sector – Publication of Regulations
Further to the immediate report issued by the Company on June 30, 2022, regarding the change in the regulatory regime for telecommunications and the supplementary immediate report for that report issued on July 19, 2022, regarding the publication of the Draft Communications Regulations (Telecommunications and Broadcasts) (General Permit for the Provision of Telecommunications Services), 2022 (hereinafter: the “Regulations") for implementation of a change in the regulatory regime as set out above, and further to the description of the same matter in section 1.7.4.10 in the Update to Chapter A (Description of Company Operations) in the Company’s quarterly report for the period ended June 30, 2022, an additional supplementary immediate report is hereby issued.
On September 29, 2022, the final version of the Regulations implementing the regulatory regime was published on the website of the Ministry of Communications, according to which many entities currently providing telecommunications services will no longer require a license, and will be regulated instead by registering in a dedicated registry and in accordance with the Regulations.
Under the Regulations, this will not apply to certain license holders, including the Company and the subsidiaries Pelephone Communications Ltd., Bezeq International Ltd., and DBS Satellite Services (1998) Ltd. (hereinafter: "yes") other than for the ISP service of yes. However, according to the explanation of the Regulations, the Ministry of Communications plans to map the licenses and actively cancel the provisions in the licenses that are regulated in the Regulations, and in the near future, to assess the justification for determining different arrangements under the licenses.
It should be noted that the Regulations, which do not apply to the Group companies (except for the ISP service of yes), include an obligation to disconnect "dormant subscribers” (a subscriber who has not used an internet access service for at least six consecutive months) from internet access services, other than for the service for medium and large-scale business subscribers as defined in the Regulations.
The Group companies are assessing the effect of the Amendment to the Communications Law and Regulations on the Group companies, and it depends, among other things, on how this is implemented by the Ministry of Communications.
For the link to the publication of the Regulations on the website of the Ministry of Communications click here (in Hebrew).
Yours sincerely,
“Bezeq” The Israel Telecommunication Corp Limited
The above information constitutes a translation of the Immediate Report published by the Company. The Hebrew version was submitted by the Company to the relevant authorities pursuant to Israeli law, and represents the binding version and the only one having legal effect. This translation was prepared for convenience purposes only.