Xfone Inc. (AMEX:XFN; TASE:XFN) today received a Ministry of Communications license to conduct voice-over-broadband (VOB)-based inland telephony service. The license is valid for one year and the company may recruit 13,000 subscribers. The company's prefix will be 818-078; the company's prefix for international calls is 018.
Xfone Israel general manager Roni Haliva said, "We've already started the VOB trial for international calls. We now plan to begin the trial for local numbers. We already have a few customers, and we'll takes two or three months to expand the trial. Our entry into the inland telephony market will slash the cost of calls."
Haliva added that Xfone plans to offer, among other things, a package of preset call minutes, combined with other products, such as low-cost international calls and Internet services. The company has an Internet service provider (ISP) license, which it is not yet using. "We plan to enter the ISP market at the same time as the inland telephony. There is heavy demand for this combination," he said.
Haliva said that Xfone was targeting a specific audience. "We're targeting customers who are close to us. One of these target audiences, which has been consistently neglected, despite all the talk about them, is the small and home office (SOHO) market. We want to reach this audience which falls between the cracks. We're also targeting the haredi (ultra-orthodox) community, where we have a very strong presence."
Haliva was previously VP at Bezeq International Ltd. He replaced Rafi Dick, who retired three months ago. "This was no small change. This was an interesting change from a large company to a small one. I know the advantages of economies of scale, and I'm now learning about the advantages of smallness."
Xfone closed at $3.50 on AMEX yesterday, giving a market cap of $40 million. The share was unchanged in morning trading on the TASE today.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 12, 2007
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