Bezeq purchased a few thousand Mango cellular phones from
Pelephone, devices which can receive incoming calls but
place outgoing calls to only one specified telephone number.
Bezeq General Manager Yitzhak Kaul stated that the company
made the purchase decision after financial and quality
investigations revealed that Mango provided the best
solution.
Bezeq did not specify in its announcement that Pelephone is
its own subsidiary or that Kaul also serves as Pelephone's
CEO. Bezeq Deputy Spokesperson Ronny Mandelbaum responded
to questions, stating that quality investigations indicated
that sound quality on Mango devices does not fall below the
standard of any other device on the Pelephone network.
Bezeq did not publish a public tender for the purchase of
the cellular phone devices, as required by the Obligatory
Tender Law which covers the company's activities.
Mandelbaum confirmed that no tender was held, however, he
claimed that Mango has no competitors in the market and that
the Obligatory tender Law allows Bezeq to act in order not
to damage the business or reputation of its own
subsidiaries