The Israeli government has reportedly reaffirmed Golan Telecom’s 3G licence win, after its right was suspended to allow rival bidder Marathon’s appeal to take place.
The Jerusalem District Court had called for a review of the awarding process because it…
The Israeli government has reportedly reaffirmed Golan Telecom’s 3G licence win, after its right was suspended to allow rival bidder Marathon’s appeal to take place.
The Jerusalem District Court had called for a review of the awarding process because it ruled that Golan’s bid was not properly discussed, according to reports citing Judge Noam Sohlberg.
Xfone 018, Marathon’s Israeli ISP, originally won an auction for the licence back in April, along with local cellco Mirs Communications. However, Marathon was unable to secure bank guarantees for the ILS 710 (US$210m) it needed to fulfil its obligations.
This licence was then passed to the next highest bidder, Select Communications, which was consequently also unable to stump up its deposit.
Marathon reportedly felt that following Select’s disqualification, Xfone should have been given a second chance, but instead it was passed to the next in line, Golan, which successfully paid its ILS 360m (US$105m) deposit in July.
Marathon and Golan were unable to comment before the press deadline.
The other three mobile operators in Israel are Cellcom, Pelephone and Partner Communications.
