Cellular tower (Archives)
צילום: עומר הכהן
New cellular provider bid underway
Communications Ministry tasks tender committee with locating new, fifth cellular communications company; WiMAX network operator
Communication Minister Moshe Kahlon named a tender committee to oversee a bid for a new cellular service provider, as well as for a WiMAX network.
The committee will issue tenders for a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access network – a telecommunications technology which provides wireless transmission of data using varied transmission modes; as well as for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) – a third-generation cellular service.
Israel's cellular service market is considered one of the most profitable ones in the country, but many consumers complain that it lacks true competition between the three major providers – Cellcom, Pelephone and Orange.
The three dominate 95% of the market, with Mirs – the fourth service provider – biting into 5%.
The tender will allow both Mirs and several new service-hopefuls to bid on the new cellular frequencies allotted by the Communications Ministry.
The bid will official open in four months, and if things go smoothly, a fifth cellular service provider could be operational within 18 months.
"I aim to encourage competition in the private cellular service market… and one of the ways to achieve that is to ensure conditions allow for new service providers to from," said Kahlon.
