Xfone CEO wants cellular cos out of int'l calls market

Xfone Israel general manager Roni Haliva is calling on Minister of Communications Ariel Atias not to adopt the Gronau committee recommendations to allow cellular operators to enter the international calls market using the same model used for the wireline market.

Haliva says that the entry of Xfone Inc. (AMEX:XFN; TASE:XFN) into the Israeli international calls market slashed the cost of calls and created real, proper, and paying competition for consumers. Changing the operators' map will result in the international calls market coming under the control of the cellular operators and will hurt the small companies like Xfone, which brought genuine competition to the market.

Israel's cellular operators are already working withl international calls carriers through cooperation agreements. Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) is cooperating with 012 Smile.Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:SMLC; TASE: SMLC); IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) subsidiary Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) is cooperating with its sister company NetVision Ltd. (TASE: NTSN); and Bezeq The Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) subsidiaries Pelephone Communications Ltd. is collaborating with Bezeq International Ltd.

Only Xfone lacks an Israeli cellular partner.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 25, 2008