A senior source at Bezeq The Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) says, “We’re going to invest a lot of money in YES, a huge investment. I promise that customers will get what they deserve in a generous way.” Bezeq owns 49% of the satellite broadcaster.
Bezeq has also responded to the severe disruptions in service that has affected YES lately. “It seems that the problem is now under control. The type of the problem is known, the causes have been identified, we more or less know where the problem is located and how to reach those responsible for it. There is full cooperation between the various agencies. It is a fact that there have been no disruptions for several days, and the matter is under review. It can be assumed that breakdowns of this kind and on this scale will not recur. Nevertheless, there is no absolute assurance of this, simply because we don’t control the source of the problem.”
The comments by the Bezeq officials imply that the company has realized that it failed to do all that was necessary, and that it did not handle the problem promptly. The sources said, however, that such things could be said about the conduct of any company under similar circumstances; that things could have been done better.
The source added, “YES’s challenge now is to find a way to rebuild what it lost in this crisis.”
Since YES, run by CEO Ron Eilon, is still losing money and it has a severe image problem, it seems that it will also have a problem in coping alone with the need for further investment in the company. The question is whether its owners, Bezeq and Eurocom Group will invest enough to enable YES to recover from the crisis.
The Bezeq source said in response, “The company will meet its commitments.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 17, 2007
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