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Partner Communications Announces the Decision of the Minister of Communications Regarding Regulation of the Wholesale Market for Broadband Fixed-Line Telecommunications ServicesROSH HAAYIN, Israel --(Business Wire)-- Partner Communications Company Ltd. ("Partner" or "the Company") (NASDAQ:PTNR) (TASE:PTNR), a leading communications operator in Israel, announces that, on November 17, 2014, the Ministry of Communications published the decision of the Minister of Communications ("the Minister") regarding regulation of the wholesale market for broadband fixed-line telecommunications services - defining a format for the supply of wholesale services and setting a tariff for the supply of these services. Within this framework, the Minister decided to amend the licenses of the infrastructure owners - Bezeq (News - Alert) The Israeli Telecommunication Corp. Ltd. ("Bezeq") and Hot Telecom Ltd. ("Hot") and to prescribe the service portfolio - managed broadband access and wholesale telephony service. The regulations attached to the Minister's decision prescribe the obligation to supply the wholesale services, including ancillary services, as well as maximum tariffs (requiring the approval of the Minister of Finance) for the said wholesale services. The tariffs set at this stage, relate solely to services to be provided by Bezeq. The Ministry of Communications intends on initiating a separate regulation process addressing the tariffs for the wholesale services to be provided by Hot, a cable infrastructure owner. Additionally, on November 17, 2014, the Ministry of Communications published a hearing to examine the format for preventing a "margin squeeze" by the infrastructure owners - which occurs when an infrastructure owner lowers its retail prices and narrows the margin between its retail prices and the wholesale price of those infrastructure inputs being purchased by service-providers to a level that erodes the service-providers' margin to the point of eradicating the economic feasibility of continuing their operations, the objective being to push service-providers out of the market. The Company is examining the contents of the hearing on the format for preventing a margin squeeze by the infrastructure owners (Bezeq and Hot) and is preparing to submit its position in this regard. At this stage, the Company is unable to predict the outcome of the hearing, which is critical to ensuring the effectiveness of the wholesale market. The Company is examiing the contents of the Minister's decision regarding regulation of the wholesale market. At this stage, since a decision has not yet been issued on the subject of the aforesaid margin squeeze, the Company is unable to assess the impact of the Minister's decision regarding regulation of the wholesale market for broadband fixed-line telecommunications services on the Company's results. For further information, see the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2013 ("2013 Annual Report"), "Item 3. Key Information - 3D. Risk Factors - 3D.1 Risks relating to the regulation of our industry - 3D.1b - If insufficient or improperly implemented, regulatory initiatives that are intended to allow telecommunication providers, such as Partner, that do not have their own fixed-line infrastructure to include the infrastructure component as part of their bundled service offerings may negatively affect our business and results of operations" and "Item 4. Information on the Company - 4B. Business Overview - 4B.13 Regulation - 4B.13d Regulatory Developments - 4B.13d-x- The Ministry of Communications policy regarding the fixed-line telecommunications sector".
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