Ministry of Communications director general Netanel (Nati) Cohen and senior deputy director general and economics administration director Dr. Ofer Raz-Dror were hosted by IBI Investment House yesterday as part of a meeting with analysts. Those present reported that Cohen and Raz-Dror advocated a moderate and measured policy, in contrast to the belligerent mood at a similar meeting last year that featured forceful measures, mainly against Bezeq.
Cohen said that despite the headlines, the telecom market in Israel is not in a market-level crisis (this does not refer to the difficulties that individual companies are experiencing). In order to meet future challenges, the Ministry of Communications should focus on maintaining its awareness that the companies in the sector must survive this period. This should be accomplished by selecting a point for appropriate intervention, so that players with no network commitments do not take advantage of the market in order to leverage interests dragging the market down. The ministry is also taking action to prevent damage to the market of players who are not operators.
Cohen added that the Ministry of Communications would not actively intervene in the number of players in the market, especially not those who had obtained a license under the law, or in the price level resulting from competition.
Commenting on the deployment of fiber-optic infrastructure in Israel, Cohen said that the Ministry of Communications was currently working on guidelines for deploying fiber-optics, with a goal of at least two fiber-optic infrastructure providers covering 80% of the country. The universal deployment model will not be based on a single company, and it is believed that the structural change in IBC will dramatically speed up the current pace of deployment.
Cohen also said that the Ministry of Communications had revised its 22% projection for fiber-optic deployment in 2019 to 25%. He explained that decisions would be made soon about the universal deployment imposed on Bezeq and Hot. The solution will not be based on a single company, and some concessions will be made to Bezeq.
As far as mergers in the mobile phone sector are concerned, it was stated that the policy on a merger between a small company and a large one differed from the policy on a merger between small companies. The Israel Competition Authority will be a potent factor in any decision.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 24, 2019
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