Communications minister orders Cellcom inquiry

The mobile carrier still does not know what caused the nationwide crash to its network earlier this month.

Minister of Communications Moshe Kahlon has ordered a committee of inquiry into the nationwide crash at mobile carrier Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) ten days ago, after learning that the company still does not know what caused the breakdown.

Kahlon ordered the committee after receiving a worrying report from ministry officials on Thursday that Cellcom CTO Lipa Ogman and engineers from Nokia Siemens Networks did not know the cause of the crash of the network, which was supplied by Nokia Siemens. The inquiry committee will not investigate the breakdown itself, since it will not be able to do a better job on this matter than Cellcom, but to disseminate the lessons to the breakdown to other committees, and to learn about mobile network survivability in an emergency.

The inquiry will comprise of Ministry of Communications officials and outside experts. The committee will have the authority to decide whether mobile networks are a national infrastructure because of their importance during emergencies.

Recognizing mobile networks as a national infrastructure will require the networks to have survivability capability during an emergency. The status would also make it easier for mobile carriers to building antennas.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 12, 2010

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018