Market sources have differing opinions about the upcoming Ministry of Communications' position paper on 4G network sharing by the mobile carriers. One opinion holds that the position paper will ban Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) and Hot Telecommunication Systems Ltd. (TASE: HOT.B1) from sharing networks. Another opinion holds that the position paper will ban large carriers above a market share threshold from sharing networks.
Since the position paper is not completed, it is not possible to know for sure what it will say, but there is a strong probability that the Ministry of Communications will not want the veteran mobile carriers to share networks. This means that Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan will not allow the network sharing by Pelephone Communications Ltd., Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL), and Golan Telecom Ltd., but will allow HOT Mobile Ltd. and Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) to share their networks.
The Ministry of Communications is due to publish the position before Passover next week, but everything depends on Erdan's schedule, and when he will be free to approve the final document. He is under heavy pressure to set a policy so that it will be possible to launch 4G networks and allocate frequencies to the carriers for them.
Meanwhile, the Antitrust Authority is due to shortly publish its decision on network sharing. Tomorrow is the deadline to respond to Partner and Hot Mobile's network sharing agreement, but the Antitrust Authority may seek a postponement.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 6, 2014
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