Written by Haim Ravia and Dotan Hammer
The Knesset, the Israeli legislature, voted for the final approval of an amendment to the Communications Law (Telecom and Broadcasts), 5742-1982, repealing the need for most telecommunications service providers to obtain a specific telecom license through a complicated and bureaucratic procedure previously required. The amendment becomes effective on October 2, 2022.
Before the amendment, anyone desiring to provide telecommunications services was required to obtain an individual license from the Ministry of Communications in advance, even for routine services such as vehicle location tracking, pagers, voicemails, and PTT applications.
Under the new regulatory framework, most telecommunication service providers will either no longer be required to obtain any kind of license or permit, or only be required to register their services in a designated registry and obtain a general permit instead of a license – a much easier and quicker procedure, which should take up to ten business days instead of several months.
Only a minority of current license holders – approximately 15% – will still be required to obtain a license as before. The Ministry of Communications believes that the amendment will promote the development and acceleration of the communications market in Israel and boost competition in the market.
