The five-year contract is worth tens of millions of shekels.
Bezeq The Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) subsidiary Bezeq International Ltd. has won the IDF tender for an exclusive Internet services provider (ISP) for five years. The tender is worth tens of millions of shekels.
Bezeq International beat 012 Smile.Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:SMLC; TASE: SMLC) and NetVision Ltd. (TASE: NTSN). The courts earlier dismissed Smile's request to deny Bezeq International's win in the tender.
Bezeq International will provide the IDF with Internet access and secure telecommunications infrastructure based on both landline and cellular modems for thousands of IDF subscribers.
The Ministry of Communications essentially forced the IDF to publish the ISP tender in order to increase competition in the market. As a huge telecommunications consumer, the IDF has until now preferred to work with Bezeq, especially for telecommunications infrastructure, and did not want to increase the number of suppliers.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 9, 2009
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