A subsidiary of Israel’s department store chain, New Hamashbir Lazarchan, has been granted the country’s first MVNO license by the Communications Ministry. The subsidiary, Telecom 365, has six months to secure a contract with one of Israel’s four mobile operators or the Ministry will step in and force the issue.
Commenting on the license received, Telecom 365’s chief executive Oded Birger said: “We will work vigorously to set up the network and estimate we will be able to supply customers, especially members of our Club 365, with quality communications services towards the end of 2011.”
The Communications Ministry also said that it has received six other requests for MVNO services since it published regulations in March.
Ever since the year 2007, the country has been debating the entry of MVNOs into the market. While a report from National Economic Research Associates came down in favour of their services, the network operators-commissioned study came to the opposite conclusion. The Ministry finally announced plans for MVNOs last January.
[Via: CellularNews]