Bezeq will allow all Internet providers, not just Bezeq International, to market a combined high-speed ADSL Internet service and YES satellite broadcaster package.
Bezeq notified the Ministry of Communications and Antitrust Authority director general Dror Strum of its intention. The announcement followed an investigation by the Ministry and Antitrust Authority of a complaint filed by the Internet providers that only Bezeq subsidiary, Bezeq International, was marketing the combined ADSL-YES package. They concluded the complaint was justified.
Three weeks ago, Bezeq International announced it was marketing a package combining satellite multi-channel television and high-speed Internet through Bezeq's ADSL infrastructure.
Internet providers Barak, Golden Lines and NetVision filed a complaint with the Ministry of Communications that Bezeq was violating a clause in its license banning it from discriminating between its subsidiaries and its competitors. They alleged that Bezeq was effectively nullifying the structural separation between itself and its subsidiaries, without permission. The state imposed the structural separation.
The Ministry of Communications and Antitrust Authority investigated the complaint and concluded it was justified. Following discussions with Bezeq, the company agreed to allow the other Internet providers to offer an identical package. The Ministry of Communications told the petitioners to check the options for offering similar packages directly with Bezeq.
The three Internet providers that filed the complaint are fully or partly owned by groups that have stakes in the cable companies.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 25 February 2002