The IDF today extended its wireless contract with MIRS Communications Ltd. for three years. "Globes" reported that the parties were negotiating a new contract, which was leaked to other cellular operators. They sharply protested the negotiations and tried to torpedo the contract.
Despite lobbying the IDF, the terms offered by MIRS were apparently worthwhile for the IDF, despite problems that cropped up during the previous three-year contract. In the previous contract, MIRS offered rates that no other cellular operator was willing to offer - NIS 10 per minute, plus a fixed minimum fee.
After MIRS won the previous contract, it turned out that the company struggled to meet IDF requirements for optimal coverage and traffic, and to provide services for the thousands of new subscribers who were simultaneously added to MIRS' network. Over time, MIRS improved its network, which apparently led the Ministry of Defense and IDF to extend the contract.
Israel's other cellular operators felt that the IDF, as a public institution, should have opened such a large tender to competition, especially since MIRS had failed to meet its commitments.
The IDF cellular tender is the largest tender of its kind in Israel. It includes current administration and the provision of technical and other services for 60,000 handsets used by IDF personnel. Under the new contract, MIRS will gradually upgrade the handsets.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 4, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008