Israel’s Ministry of Communications (MoC) has revealed plans to eradicate interconnection charges for both mobile and fixed line services. In a press release the regulator claimed that, with termination rates having last been revised back in 2014, the outdated fee structure has led to a market distortion which has been exploited by, among others, smaller content providers marketing a range of services – including call recording and conferencing – mainly to the ultra-Orthodox sector.
According to the MoC, it plans to make gradual reductions to the existing termination rates over a three-year period, rather than simply mandate that termination rates simply be cancelled. As per its plans, the regulator has proposed that after a one-year preparation period the mobile termination rate (MTR) should be reduced to ILS0.04 (USD0.01) per minute, down from its current rate of ILS0.05, while a further cut – to ILS0.02 – would follow a year later. Subsequently, MTRs would then be discontinued a year after that second cut is implemented. For fixed termination rates, meanwhile, the MoC proposed these should fall to ILS0.07 per minute at the end of the initial one-year preparation period, before being reduced to ILS0.04 a year later and then being cancelled twelve months following that.
Interested parties have been given until 13 October 2021 to submit their feedback on the ministry’s plans.