Excluding email services from the catalogue of telecommunications services means that they will not be subject to the requirements of this law. At the same time, the chamber rejected amendments proposed by the Senate committee that sought to introduce mandatory registration of prepaid cards. This means that POP, SimPlus, Era TakTak and Heyah—in other words, prepaid phones—will remain anonymous.
The government submitted the draft Telecommunications Law to parliament at the beginning of March. The purpose of the new law is to adapt Polish law to EU law and introduce a number of solutions beneficial to subscribers. Among other things, the law provides for free broadband Internet access for schools and other educational institutions. The Sejm adopted the draft in mid-June, introducing numerous amendments. In addition to the controversial ones, several amendments making life easier for subscribers were also introduced. One of the more important amendments requires an operator to block stolen phones on its network. The operator will have one working day to do so, starting from the day the subscriber presents confirmation that the theft has been reported.
The Senate adopted the law unanimously. The amendments adopted on Thursday will still be put to a vote in the Sejm.