The Ministry of Communications rejected Bezeq’s request to transfer Bezeq International’s Internet subscribers in preparation for the reform of the Internet market.
As revealed in Globes, Bezeq has asked the Ministry of Communications to allow it to transfer Bezeq International’s Internet subscriptions as a single package, as part of the cancellation of the split between a provider and the infrastructure that will take effect in early April. The firm refused, arguing that this was a move that would hurt competition, and it was better for customers to decide from which company they wanted to receive the service.
Bezeq has hundreds of thousands of customers for whom it sells an Internet service as part of what is called a reverse bundle, ie a package that Bezeq marketed and which includes its infrastructure plus an Internet provider that the customer chooses. The service was defined as a “reverse” package due to the fact that Bezeq sold it and not the ISPs, and the format was approved by Bezeq by the Ministry of Communications in the past to help small ISPs that lacked marketing power, and were comfortable with Bezeq selling them to customers. This whole relationship between the infrastructure companies and the Internet providers is part of the split that is common in the market between the infrastructure companies and the Internet providers and which is supposed to end in two weeks.
Bezeq gained about 200,000 reverse bond customers who were associated with Bezeq International. These are Internet customers who belong to the private division of Bezeq International. Bezeq International’s assessment is that following the reform, there will be a natural migration of customers from it to Bezeq, and they will prefer to receive the service in a unified manner and without splitting. Bezeq wanted to speed up the process and transfer customers in one go, and asked the ministry for approval.
But the publication of the plan led to inquiries from the Ministry of Communications from several providers who demanded that the move not be approved. The ministry has formed an assessment that the transfer of Bezeq International’s customers in one fell swoop to Bezeq is an event that will harm market competition, since in any case Bezeq is expected to recruit a significant portion of its customers because they are its subscribers, and already have customer details.
The ministry also objected because of the fact that some customers may choose to recalculate a route and purchase internet following the reform, and this could help the small players.