Telzar group company 019 Mobile is willing to invest millions to obtain a network agreement with an existing operator, sources inform "Globes." The company sent a letter to Ministry of Finance budget director Amir Levy asserting it was in the same position as Golan Telecom Ltd., because Golan Telecom was also a virtual operator after having dismantled its network of antennas.
019 Mobile CEO Azarya Sela says his company is a complete virtual operator, meaning that it has all the systems except for antennas, which it is renting from Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR), just as Golan Telecom is renting Cellcom Israel Ltd.'s (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) antennas.
The Ministry of Communications' policy is that a new operator should hook up with a veteran one, and the two companies should set up a joint network owned by them in equal shares. In this way, a large number of players will remain in the market; there will be no more than three cellular networks, but there is no limit on the number of players operating them.
According to Sela, in complete contrast to Golan Telecom, 019 Mobile is complying with the law and fulfilling all the regulatory requirements for a virtual operator. Sela says that if the regulators are concerned about competition, they should give 019 Mobile the same possibilities that the Ministry of Finance wants to give Golan Telecom: network sharing. The company promises to obey the law and the regulations, and to be fair.
Sela quotes a letter that Levy sent to Ministry of Communications director general Shlomo Filber: "I reiterate that any sharing agreement signed by Golan Telecom and Cellcom has to conform to the principles of the policy document. Assuming that Golan Telecom and Cellcom choose this way, we must act immediately to allow the companies to reach a sharing agreement conforming to the principles of the policy document, and to approve it. A cooperation agreement was and remains the preferred alternative for the public interest and promoting competition in the market."
Sela ends his letter to Levy by saying that if his company is given a network sharing agreement, it will become the fifth operator, and be a factor in maintaining competition.
Golan Telecom has a cellular operator license, which incurs different obligations and requirements that those of a virtual operator with respect to license fees, guarantees, ownership of frequencies, etc. 019 Mobile asserts that it has all the resources necessary to meet the Ministry of Communications requirements.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 17, 2016
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