مجموعة الاتصلات » 4G

Partner asks ministry to reconsider 4G tender

ola — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 07:44:49 +0000

Six operators will compete in the tender, which starts at 10 AM

and ends at 4 PM.

Amidst threats by employees of the veteran cellular companies concerning the results of the Ministry of Communications’ policy, which they say is liable to lead to lay-offs, the tender for 4G cellular frequencies is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

The procurement administration at the Ministry of Finance Accountant General department is conducting the tender online. It will be opened at 10 AM, and is likely to be completed the same day, although an additional day may be necessary if the parties continue raising their bids.

Today, at the last minute, Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:PTNR; TASE: PTNR) asked the Ministry of Communications to reconsider its tender terms. The veteran operators contend that the tender is highly discriminatory in favor of Golan Telecom Ltd. andHOT Mobile Ltd. because it makes concessions to them that will enable them to continue their cutthroat bargains aimed at crushing their competitors in the cellular market.

In its petition, Partner asserts that the new cellular companies should not be afforded protection as an “infant industry,” because they are backed by “international tycoons in no need of help from the Israeli regulator.”

Better surfing experience on cellular Internet

The tender is designed to provide operators in Israel with frequencies that are essential for their continued functioning, because Israel is lagging far behind the rest of the world in anything pertaining to 4G. Allocating the frequencies will make possible a better surfing experience on cellular Internet, and help the operators cope with their customers’ growing need for available high-speed communications.

Six bidders will compete in the tender: three veteran companies (Partner, Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL), and Pelephone Communications Ltd.), Golan Telecom, HOT Mobile, and a new player seeking to enter the market – Hezi Bezalel, through 018 Xphone.

Eight five-megahertz bandwidths and one three-megahertz bandwidth in the vicinity of 1,800 megahertz will be allocated in the tender. The operators are being required to show NIS 100 million in equity, and to put up a NIS 10 million guarantee. The winners must put up half of their price bid within 45 days, and provide guarantees for the remainder.

Golan Telecom, HOT Mobile, and Xphone enjoy an advantage: for each percentage of market penetration, up to NIS 50 million will be deducted from their bid.

The starting bid in the tender will be NIS 10 million for each megahertz. A round will be conducted every 10 minutes, during which the operators can revise their bids.

Cellcom can buy two frequency bandwidths of three megahertz, because it already has frequencies suitable for 4G. Partner can also buy two bandwidths for the same reason, while Pelephone can buy up to four bandwidths, because it has no 4G frequencies at all, and the same is true of the new players.

The limit for an independent network is 20 megahertz.

Golan launches 4G service for NIS 99 per month

ola — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 08:03:17 +0000

The plan includes 20GB of data, more than any other network

currently offers.

Golan Telecom Ltd. is launching 4G services for its customers today, with an added benefit for subscribers: a 20 GB data plan for customers who pay NIS 99 a month. This plan is unlike any other in the mobile market, and it is unlikely that the average customer reaches such usage levels, and unclear whether it is necessary, but it seems that Golan is trying to continue to create benefits for its customers in any way possible in order to differentiate itself and remain attractive to users.

Golan’s 4G customers, like its 3G customers, piggyback on the network of Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL), after Golan almost completely dismantled all the cellular antennae it built. Golan signed a roaming agreement that includes Cellcom’s network, which means that wherever Cellcom has deployed its network (and wherever it deploys in the future), Golan customers will receive service.

Golan Telecom, like HOT Mobile Ltd., did not take frequencies from the Ministry of Communications in the temporary 5 megahertz early allocation offering. The only network that does not currently operate a 4G network is Hot Mobile. The temporary frequencies that were allocated to the veteran operators were intended to answer to the needs of Partner Communications Ltd.(Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR), which needed frequencies because it began massive 4G network deployments before Pelephone Communications Ltd. and Cellcom entered the field. Partner sped up its 4G network deployment and needed 4G frequencies due to the frequency shortage. The Ministry of Communications did not want to give frequencies only to Partner, and therefore decided to temporarily allocate 5 megahertz to each operator until the 4G frequency tender, which is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks, is held.

Golan Telecom announced today that its 4G services will be launched for all Golan customers, on all plans. According to the company, the revolution announced today is the 20GB data plan on the 4G network, including those customers on the “All-Included International” plan, who will benefit from the improved package (for use in Israel only).

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 17, 2014

Pelephone picks Ericsson as sole 4G vendor

ola — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 06:57:09 +0000

Pelephone rejected bids by Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Networks.

Pelephone Communications Ltd. is waiving the option of including another supplier for the establishment of a 4G network, and will work with Ericsson as its sole vendor for three years. Ericsson won the contract several months ago for setting up the first stage of Pelephone’s 4G network, but Pelephone immediately announced it was considering bringing in another vendor.

Pelephone conducted a pricing procedure between the bids by Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Networks, and in the final stage only between a bid by Ericsson and the Nokia bid. Pelephone and Ericsson announced today that Ericsson would be the sole vendor for Pelephone’s network. The agreement constitutes an extension of the agreement signed in April this year for deploying the first stage of the network.

Pelephone’s decision to consider another vendor came after it realized that it could obtain more attractive bids from Ericsson, following aggressive pricing by competing vendors. Ericsson’s prices in the final stages of the 4G tender were high, leading Pelephone to compare those prices to those of its competitors even at the price of giving up on Pelephone as a vendor, should it not agree to the selection of a competing vendor. Ericsson eventually became more flexible, lowering its prices to the level Pelephone wanted and avoiding the need to introduce another vendor.

The equipment that Ericsson will supply will also support advanced LTE technology, which is just getting started around the world, and will enable Pelephone to achieve theoretical surfing speeds of 450 mbps in downloading data, provided that it has enough frequencies.

Pelephone CEO Gil Sharon said today, “Pelephone is in the advanced stages of deploying its 4G network. We decided to continue with Ericsson as our sole vendor for the 4G network, too, as we did with 3G. This strategy proved itself when we set up the fastest and highest quality network in Israel, and that’s also our goal now.” Ericsson Israel CEO Alon Berman said today, “We thank Pelephone for deepening our connection of many years standing.”

Mobile carriers to operate 4G immediately

ola — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 07:02:13 +0000

Cellcom and Partner have frequencies available;

Pelephone will borrow 5 MHz.

Israel’s Ministry of Communications will allow existing mobile carriers to operate fourth generation (4G) networks using LTE technology even before the tender for 4G frequencies takes place. Pelephone Communications Ltd. will be able to obtain 5 megahertz on loan, while Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) andCellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) will be able to operate their networks on 5 megahertz that they already own.

At a meeting of Ministry of Communications professionals last week, the idea was raised of allowing all the existing carriers to operate 4G networks in a limited format before the tender was held. Partner and Cellcom both submitted requests to the ministry to use frequencies they had themselves freed up for this purpose, and Pelephone, which does not have frequencies of its own available, requested frequencies on loan. The recommendation of the ministry’s professional staff to minister Gilad Erdan was to allow all carriers to launch 4G services on an equal basis, in order to avoid a situation in which carriers with frequencies available would gain a marketing advantage over carriers without frequencies, such as Pelephone.

The upshot of the ministry’s decision is that Golan Telecom will have a problem, because it is not yet ready for a 4G launch. It is not clear whether Hot Mobile is ready or not, but in any event, Partner is expected to launch its network very soon, since it is already prepared to do so.

Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan said, “Very shortly, the companies will be able to use the advanced technology and prepare themselves for providing advanced fourth generation services to the general public. We shall insist that the investment in the advanced technology infrastructure will be the same in the periphery as in the center of the country, in such a way as to narrow social gaps. The companies will undertake not to charge customers more for use of the more advanced technology.”

Israel issues tender for 4G mobile networks

ola — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 07:28:27 +0000

New networks will boost Internet speeds up to five-fold.

Israel’s Communications Ministry on Wednesday issued a tender to operate fourth-generation, or 4G, mobile phone networks that will enable users to upload and download content at three-to-five times current speeds.

“Fourth-generation services will make possible advanced services and applications at high speeds. The new network will propel Israel forward while delivering innovative services,” said Communications Minister Gilad Erdan.

Five mobile operators now operate 3G networks. But there are not enough frequencies in 4G to support all of them, and the cost of developing frequencies is very high, the ministry said in a statement. As a result, the ministry will allow operators to share networks.

There will be at least three cellular operators in the 4G market, and all of them will have to deploy their networks equally both in the center of the country and in peripheral areas.

Any entity with capital of at least 100 million shekels ($29 million) can participate in the tender. Sept. 28 is the deadline to submit proposals.

While Israel was among the first countries to move to 3G in 2000, the transition to 4G has been delayed by bureaucracy at the Communications Ministry, which failed to allocate frequencies, and the reluctance of the mobile operators to invest in new networks, which will cost in the range of $100 million.

As a result, Israeli mobile users have very low Internet speeds of 5.6 megabits per second, compared with 25.8 megabits per second in New Zealand, which boasts the world’s fastest speeds. The global Net Index ranks Israel 63rd for mobile speeds.

Israel’s three largest mobile operators — Cellcom Israel, Partner Communications and Bezeq unit Pelephone — have been engaged in a price war since a

shake-up of the Israeli mobile industry two years ago that doubled the number of competitors. Two of the new competitors — Golan Telecom and Hot Mobile, which is owned by French cable group Altice — have their own infrastructure.

In May, Cellcom announced a 4G network-sharing agreement with Golan, and Partner said it received anti-trust approval for a network sharing agreement with Hot. Partner has already begun developing its 4G network, while Cellcom and Pelephone only recently chose equipment suppliers for theirs.

Carriers to oppose 4G frequencies tender

ola — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 09:13:12 +0000

Mobile carriers oppose letting more parties buy 4G

frequencies and enter the market.

Most mobile carriers will oppose a tender that will allow more parties to acquire 4G frequencies and enter the market. The carriers are demanding that the frequencies be allotted only to mobile licensees for a fixed price set by the Ministry of Finance.

Mobile carriers told “Globes” that the tender, which will be published in a few weeks, could ignite a bitter struggle between them. The veteran carriers intend to demand that the Ministry of Communications allocate the 4G frequencies, rather than hold an open tender, in order to prevent a bidding war that will send the prices into the stratosphere because there are not enough frequencies. They also argue that it has already been decided to establish three 4G networks, so the frequencies should be allocated on the basis of considerations other than the price.

The carriers are especially worried that 018 Ltd. owner Hezi Bezalel or other parties, such as mobile virtual network operator (MVNO)YouPhone Ltd., will bid in the tender and buy frequencies, and that the government will give them preferences or incentives to purchase 5-megahertz frequencies in the 1800-Megahertz bandwidth, the preferred bandwidth by most carriers and which is being sold.

Industry executives say that if a carrier such as 018 or YouPhone acquires a package of frequencies, this will mean that the government is giving an asset to a carrier which has no intention of establishing a network, but is only seeking to sell the frequencies.

The carriers argue that if the frequencies are allotted, they should be allotted to current carriers that are establishing networks at an investment of hundreds of millions of shekels. They argue that the frequencies should not be allotted to a carrier with only limited ability to enter the market, and which has no intention of investing in establishing a network. They say that this means wasting limited state resources because it is obvious that the veteran carriers will best use the frequencies as they are bearing the cost of building the networks.

Behind closed doors, Golan Telecom Ltd. and Hot Mobile Ltd. say that they will bid in the tender. However, they too fear the entry of new carriers into the market and skyrocketing prices. There is real concern that neither carrier can handle the investment of hundreds of millions of shekels.

“Is there a lack of competition that the government wants to bring more carriers into the market?” asked an executive. “The government has brought about prices of NIS 40 for a mobile plan, the lowest price in the world. Has anyone thought about the investment needed for 4G, and how there will be a return on investment at these prices?”

4G tender to be published next month

ola — Sun, 18 May 2014 07:03:22 +0000

It’s a disgrace for the Communications Ministry that the

tender has not yet been published.

Are we nearing the much-anticipated 4G tender publication? “Globes” has obtained information indicating that Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan plans publishing the tender next month, and holding it in September. Sources say that all the companies will participate in the tender, and will compete for 5 Mbps deployments on a 1800 MHz frequency. Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) and Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) will be limited in the number of deployments they are able to purchase, and all the other players will be able to purchase up to 20 Mbps. In total, there are 34-37 MHz for distribution, and it is not clear whether the Ministry of Communications will allocate frequencies for the railways. The tender will also include 2600 MHz frequencies, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has made available.

The 4G tender is critically important for the telecommunications market, and for the mobile companies. The fact the tender has not yet been published is a disgrace for the Ministry of Communications, which did not have the sense to move quickly and allocate frequencies for the companies. This led to the mobile companies being in an ever-worsening frequency crisis, and the quality of the service that the companies provide is declining steadily. But, most of all, the entire country is suffering terribly, on an economic level, from the fact that there is no 4G in Israel. 4G brings technological advances, will increase cellular use and traffic, and will ultimately contribute to GDP per capita growth.

Pelephone set to declare Ericsson as 4G vendor

ola — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 06:36:06 +0000

Pelephone will close an agreement with Ericsson to build

the carrier’s 4G network.

Unless there is a last-minute hitch, Pelephone Communications Ltd.will close an agreement with Ericsson AS (NYSE; OMX: ERIC) to build the carrier’s 4G network. Following the Passover holiday, the parties resumed negotiations on a contract, in which Ericsson will be declared the exclusive vendor for the first of Pelephone’s 4G network, which includes 440 sites and upgrades of its core network.

Pelephone’s tender for selecting a 4G equipment vendor has lasted for several months. Ericsson was the favorite to win the tender, as it supplied Pelephone’s 3G network, but its high asking prices combined with aggressive pricing by Nokia Solutions and Networks and Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE; Euronext: ALU) caused Ericsson to match their prices.

Cellcom CEO: We will have Israel’s best 4G network

ola — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 06:45:15 +0000

Nir Sztern singled out 4G, landlines and TV as the

company’s future growth areas.

Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) CEO Nir Sztern pledges to “meet head on” the upcoming challenges in the communications market, to take advantage of the “breakthrough” in the landline industry, and to launch the most advanced 4G (LTE) network in Israel.

“Speed is going to be the name of the game, and we understand and play this game, and when we play, we like to win,” Sztern said today at the “Future Talk” conference. “As for LTE, Cellcom will soon have such a network, and it will be the best – the best 4G network in Israel.”

Sztern also spoke about the shake-up that the communications market has undergone over the past two years, following the opening of the market to competition, and increased public awareness: “Today’s consumer is wiser, more determined, and unwilling to compromise. There are changes in the competitive environment as well – against over-the-top services – WhatsApp, and others. This is a world of multiple screens, and world of content that has changed from end-to-end.

After two years of nonstop competition and major changes that we have undergone both in and out of the company, I can say that Cellcom is strong, steady, determined, fast, and much more ready to meet the upcoming challenges head-on.”

Regarding the wholesale market, Sztern said: “They are talking about a wholesale market for landline communications. We are nearing a breakthrough. At the end of the day, the landline communications market is about to enter into competition that will also provide more value to users.” He said that Cellcom will also enter the television market, and added: “In the Israeli television market, we see a market that has more interesting technologies that can be offered, higher-quality infrastructure connections, and lower prices. We are certain that the Israeli consumer wants this, and deserves more.”

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 2, 2014

Regulator to nix 4G network sharing

ola — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 07:26:06 +0000

The Pelephone-Cellcom-Golan network sharing

agreement won’t be approved.

The Antitrust Authority is in no hurry to disclose its position on 4G network sharing, but there is growing evidence that it will not approve the network sharing agreement reached by Pelephone Communications Ltd., Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL), andGolan Telecom Ltd..

For the Antitrust Authority, network sharing by the three carriers is a red rag, because, together with the 4G network sharing agreement by Partner Communications Ltd.(Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) and Hot Mobile Ltd., it will result in just two networks, necessarily reducing competition on the basis of independent infrastructures.

However, the Antitrust Authority may agree to allow passive network sharing, limited to antennas, by the carriers, for a limited period and with restrictions.

The Antitrust Authority has an easier case with regard to Partner and Hot Mobile’s network sharing agreement, in terms of restraint of trade, and will likely approve it with restrictions, such as limiting the time, and banning active sharing to prevent harm to competition in data transmission, full separation, allowing access by rivals, and so on.

The Partner-Hot Mobile tie-up is seen as less dangerous in terms of dominating the mobile market. Hot Mobile is a new and minor player and network sharing with Partner will control only 40% of the infrastructures market. But a Pelephone-Cellcom-Golan Telecom tie-up would control 60% of this market, posting a greater threat to competition in the eyes of the Antitrust Authority, which does not yet believe that it is possible to achieve separation between the networks on the basis of competition between independent networks.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 18, 2014