Golan Telecom, one of the cellular providers in Israel, is seriously considering blocking the so-called ‘nayis’ new lines that have become so popular in the chareidi community in Israel.
According to a Kikar Shabbos News report, a document it obtained states that 18 months ago, the president of Golan Telecom contacted the director-general of the Ministry of Communication with a request; to bring an end to the nayis lines because they are putting too much of a load on Golan Telecom.
The company explains that their ‘all inclusive’ package with unlimited minutes has drawn many subscribers who are constantly phoning the nayis lines, placing too much of a load on the company and it compromises its ability to be competitive.
The company suggests that each of the nayis lines will have to open a service inside the framework of the cellular provider to avoid subscribers having to call outside the internal system. It is explained in the report that such a demand will result in the closure of the lines since opening a line in each provider is not economically or technically feasible.
There are currently hundreds of thousands of persons phoning these lines on a regular basis, as they provide updated information to the various kehillos, and in some communities, there is news, information of events and day-to-day information pertaining to that particular kehilla.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
Golan should simply have blocked the lines saying this was a demand of the Rabbonim Shlita. Who would have dared question that?
Obviously, these lines were not designed for “streaming” for those too technologically backwards to use the internet or prefer to use kosher phones to avoid “visual tzinius”. In either case, until they can expand their cellular capacity, they need to either prohibit or “throttle” use of the lines for audio streaming by block pricing higher increments of usage. These are not punitive measures but simply using price to restrict demand during periods of peak useage. The Trump appointees to the FCC in the U.S. recently allowed such demand pricing for broadband by eliminating the so called “net neutrality” rules of the Obama Administration.
The worst is when a kid borrows your phone, only to return it 20 minutes later having listened to the news. What a chutzpah…