US billing company AMS has submitted a claim for $58.7 million against Bezeq, claiming that it violated a contract for setting up a billing system.
AMS claims that Bezeq presented it with meaningless information regarding its ability to carry out the project within the set time span, and this was one of the reasons AMS agreed to the relatively low price of the project.
The contract to set up a new Bezeq billing system for $100 million was signed in September 1997, and AMS's share was $53 million.
After AMS began working on the project, it came to the conclusion that significant losses would be accrued if it continued on the same lines. The company proposed two alternatives, namely different payment terms, likely to increase the proceeds from Bezeq by some tens of millions of dollars.
Bezeq rejected the proposals, advised AMS of the cancellation of the contract, and started searching for a new concessionaire to set up the system. At the same time, Bezeq filed a claim against AMS for violation of the contract.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on January 19, 2000