Five Israeli cellular operators and 018 Xphone have registered for the 4G cellular tender scheduled for December. In the first stage of the tender, the companies today submitted their registration forms. The six companies are Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL), Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR), Pelephone Communications Ltd., Golan Telecom Ltd., HOT Mobile Ltd., and Xphone.
Xphone's participation in the tender is an opportunity for the company to penetrate the Israeli cellular market, an old ambition of its owner, Hezi Bezalel, who hopes to succeed this time.
Xphone's participation is expected to intensify the competition for the frequencies to be distributed by the state, and to raise the prices above what they would otherwise have been. The Ministry of Communications is issuing a limited number of frequencies, and more competitors therefore means higher prices for the frequencies.
The frequencies will enable the companies to provide complete 4G services. At present, all that is available is 4G networks on a very narrow frequency range, and the new networks are expected to greatly improve the users' experience.
As reported exclusively in "Globes," YouPhone, which considered competing in the tender, announced that it would not take part. The company asserted that the tender terms were discriminatory, and did not allow a new player like it to compete on fair terms.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 2, 2014
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