Bezeq
| Company type | Public (TASE: BEZQ) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecomunications |
| Genre | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv , |
Area served | Israel |
Key people | Avi Gabay (CEO) |
| Revenue | 10.27 bilion NIS (2012) |
| 3.03 bilion NIS (2012) | |
| 1.85 billion NIS (2012) | |
Number of employees | 12,000 |
| Parent | B Communications |
| Subsidiaries | yes, Pelephone |
| Website | http://www.bezeq.co.il |
Bezeq The Israeli Telecommunication Corp Ltd (Template:Lang-he) (TASE: BEZQ) is the largest telecommunications group in Israel. Bezeq and its subsidiaries offer a range of telecom services, including: fixed line, mobile, high-speed Internet, transmission, and pay TV.
History
Bezeq was founded in 1984 as a government-owned corporation, taking over the prevision of telephony service in Israel, which were previously ran directly by the Ministry of Communications. The drive for creating the company was the highly bureaucratic and inefficient of the government ran service requiring customers to wait several year until they got a phone line installed.
In 1994, Bezeq acquired 50% ownership of Pelephone, Israel's first Mobile communication company, in 2004 acquired full ownership of the company from its co-owner Motorola.
In 1998, Bezeq co-founded Yes, a Direct-broadcast satellite provider, which began broadcasting in July 2000.
In January 2012, Bezeq International Optical System was completed, a submarine telecommunication cable linking Tel Aviv and Bari in Italy. The system spans 2,300 km of cable, and extended terrestrially from Bari through Interoute's network to major European cities.[1]
In April 2012, Bezeq acquired full ownership of Walla! Communications, Israel's leading Internet portal, which has more than 2.5 Million monthly unique users.
Loss of monopoly status
In 1994, Cellcom a new Mobile communication company was founded, breaking Pelephone's monopoly in this area. In 1999, a third competitor, Partner Communications Company, was established.
In 1997, two new competitors were introduced in international calling services (Barak and Golden Lines), and Bezeq was obliged to establish a new subsidiarity to compete with them named Bezeq International.
Until the mid-first decade of the 21st century when it was owned by the Israeli government, Bezeq had a monopoly on landline telephony and Internet access infrastructure[2] (ADSL VDSL2). Though still the most dominant provider of telephone services,[3] it has had competition from the sole cable provider in the country (since September 2006), Hot, which offers a cables based telephone and internet access services as of 2005, and with 012 Smile and more recently 013 netvision and Orange.
Privatization
On May 9, 2005, Bezeq was officially privatized when 30% of its shares were sold by the state to the Apax-Saban-Arkin investment group for $972 Million.[4] The cellular communications provider Pelephone is a fully owned subsidiary of Bezeq. Bezeq is also the largest shareholder in D.B.S. Satellite Services (1998) Ltd., known by its trademark name, Yes, the satellite (DBS) television provider in Israel.
In April 2010, the controlling interest in Bezeq, held by the Apax-Saban-Arkin group, was sold to B Communications, a subsidiary of Shaul Elovitch's Eurocom Group, for $1.75 billion.[5]
Operations
As of December 2012 Bezeq has:[6]
- 2.27 million fixed line customers
- 2.80 million mobile customers
- 1.17 million high-speed broadband customers
- 578,000 pay TV customers
Subsidiaries
- Pelephone Communications Ltd. (100%): Israel's first cellular phone operator
- Bezeq International Ltd. (100%): Provides customers with solutions in international telecom, data hosting, data communication, and information security solutions. Bezeq International is the leading Internet provider in Israel.
- Yes (49.8%): Yes is Israel's only provider of multi-channel television broadcasts via satellite to subscribers, and was the first company to offer digital broadcasts and interactive television services.
- Bezeq On-Line Ltd. (100%): Provides outsourcing and call-center services.
- Walla! Communications(100%): Israel's leading Internet portal.
- Bezeq International Optical System(100%): a submarine telecommunication cable linking Tel Aviv and Bari in Italy.
See also
References
- ^ Interoute and Bezeq International create a new Internet super highway between Europe and Israel
- ^ "500,000 subscribers for Bezeq's ADSL service". Bezeq. 2004-04-20.
- ^ Wrobel, Sharon (12 February 2010). "012.Smile closes Bezeq deal". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
As the largest telecommunication operator in Israel, Bezeq provides wired and wireless telephone and other communications services to consumer and business subscribers throughout Israel.
- ^ Horesh, Hadar. "Apax-Saban-Arkin group big winners of Bezeq tender - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
- ^ "B Communications Closes Acquisition Of Controlling Interest In Bezeq". RTTNews. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ^ Bezeq Q4 & FY 2012 Earnings Presentation]
