Ministry of Communications will impose a fine on Hot of NIS 6 million

The Ministry of Communications announced today (Monday) that it will impose a NIS 6 million fine on HOT, after it created difficulties for Internet access providers (ISPs) without infrastructure, and did not allow them to provide services properly on top of its infrastructure.
The ministry said that "it found that the company's conduct did not allow for proper wholesale market activity on its network, in a way that effectively led to the exclusion of competitors from its network and to prevent the development of competition.
The wholesale market reform, implemented by the Ministry of Communications in 2014, stipulated that the infrastructure companies - Bezeq (+ 0.31% 351) and HOT Telecom - would allow the activities of companies that only sell access services through their infrastructure, in order to increase competition in the field. In practice, regulated tariffs have been set for these services, and in 2018 HOT began providing this service to ISP companies.
The wholesale market reform is intended to open up competition in the Israeli communications market and allow more players to enter the field in order to reduce the cost of Internet access services. Non-infrastructure access providers can, as part of the reform, lease infrastructure segments from the infrastructure companies, and then provide consumers with access services through them.
According to the ministry, problems with access providers have emerged since the beginning of the reform. The ministry explains that the damage does not only amount to the barriers of infrastructure companies that made it difficult to transfer subscribers to other companies within the wholesale market, but also to additional consequences, including long-term damage to the entire market. In fact, companies that have tried to compete in the wholesale market have not accumulated a mass of users that will allow them to stand on their own two feet and also invest themselves in the development of communication networks and thus further influence competition and lower services.
"The wholesale market is a cornerstone of competition in the communications market, and the ability of ISPs to compete as equal players," she said. "Companies have improved." The provisions of the reform and will pose difficulties for ISPs should expect determined activity from the ministry. "
HOT responded: "HOT has fully complied with the provisions of the wholesale market reform, and is surprised by the ministry's decision to impose a financial sanction on it for a draconian amount and disproportionate and without a proper factual infrastructure."