1 / 55

Business Opportunities In An Era of Telecommunications Liberalization

Business Opportunities In An Era of Telecommunications Liberalization. Daniel Rosenne Director General, Ministry of Communications rosenned@moc.gov.il. Presentation Agenda. Israel’s Telecommunications Market: General overview Cellular telephony International telecommunications

decima
Download Presentation

Business Opportunities In An Era of Telecommunications Liberalization

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Business Opportunities In An Era of Telecommunications Liberalization Daniel Rosenne Director General, Ministry of Communications rosenned@moc.gov.il

  2. Presentation Agenda • Israel’s Telecommunications Market: • General overview • Cellular telephony • International telecommunications • Telecom Liberalization: • Regulatory reform • New frequency allocations • The new numbering plan • Bezeq in the new era • Competition In Broadcasting Services • Summary

  3. Israel’s Telecommunications MarketGeneral Overview

  4. Israel's Telecommunications • 2.8 million main telephone lines • (47% penetration). • 3 million cellular customers, on three networks: Pelephone, Cellcom & Partner/Orange. • (48% penetration). • 1.1 million cable-TV connected households. • (3 operators, 70% of passed households, 92% household coverage).

  5. The Telecommunications Services Market - 1998 Cable TV International Long-Distance Internet services Terminal Equipment & Business Systems 2% 2% 7% Cellular Telephony 11% 38% Fixed Services 40% Total telecom services market ~ $ 3.7 billion

  6. The Cellular Boom:Israel’s Telecommunications Services Revenues, 1995-1998 ($US M) 2,000 Fixed 1,500 Cellular 1,000 International 500 CATV 0 1995 1996 1997 1998

  7. The Existing Regulatory Environment • Separation between regulation and operation (since 1984). Regulation responsibility - Ministry of Communications. • General operating licenses issued to Bezeq, cellular operators & facility-based international long-distance service providers. • Special licenses issued by the Ministry of Communications for value-added services. • Exclusive rights of Bezeq in fixed services canceled as of 1 June 1999.

  8. The Competitive Environment • Wide competition in customer premise equipment and value-added services. • Limited competition in cellular and international services. • Two monopoly areas: • Bezeq - Domestic fixed services (infrastructure, transmission, data communications & telephony). • Cable TV operators - Multi-channel subscriber television.

  9. Modern Fixed Network • 100% digital. • #7 ISUP signaling. • Country-wide Euro ISDN. • AIN features. • SDH transmission. • Country-wide fiber deployment.

  10. Internet Services Profile • ~30 Internet service providers, 1 million users, 500,000 dial-up & 5,000 directly connected customers, 21,000 domains. • Typical tariffs: ~ $12 monthly fee, including 10 usage hours, ~ $1 for each additional hour. Unlimited access at < $1 per day. • IIX (Israel Internet eXchange) domestic interconnection service. • “Hands-off” overall regulatory policy. • High growth ~ 50% annual.

  11. Cellular TelephonyCompetition Introduced December 1994

  12. Cellular Operators PelephoneCellcomPartner/Orange 800 MHz 800 MHz 900 MHz NAMPS & CDMA TDMA GSM 1987 1995 1999 BellSouthHutchison Bezeq Safra Brothers Matav Motorola Discount Investments Elbit.com PEC Tapuz private investors free float

  13. Cellular Telephony • Rapid growth - 3 million subscribers, compared to 125,000 in January 1995. • In November 1999 the number of mobiles (2.9 million) exceeded the number of fixed lines. • Key expansion stimulators: • Perceived low tariffs: ~ US $0.11 to 0.23/minute air time, ~ $11 to 29 monthly charge. (300 min average monthly bill - $56 to 74) • Calling party pays (CPP). • Nationwide coverage. • Competition & marketing innovations.

  14. International TelecommunicationsFacilities-Based Competition Introduced in July 1997

  15. International Services Regulatory Environment • Three facilities-based international long distance service providers and several call-back & IBS operators. • Regulation covers: • Maximum tariffs. • Dialing parity. • Interconnect agreements. • International accounting - accounting rates, proportionate return. • Universal service obligations.

  16. Facilities-Based International Service Providers • Golden Lines (012) • Telecom Italia, SouthWestern Bell, • Aurek, Globscom & Meitar/Kahn. • Barak (013) • Sprint, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Clalcom & Matav. • Bezeq International (014) The incumbent carrier, 100% owned by Bezeq.

  17. Dialing Parity Rules • Per-call carrier-selection prefixes (01X). For each of the international service providers. • Pre-selection - subscribers choose a preferred provider for ‘00’ prefix and ’188’ international operator services. Pre-selections of existing subscribers that did not pre-select, will be blocked up to 1 May 2000. • Competitive practices - service & consumer data provided by Bezeq to all operators on non-discriminatory basis.

  18. Resulting MarketEnvironment • Highly competitive market, with low customer switching barriers. • Drastic cuts in retail tariffs (example: $0.12/min to any destination). • International long distance calls - a commodity. • The incumbent carrier, Bezeq International, lost its dominant position (60% > billed minutes) within 70 days.

  19. International Traffic[Million Minutes/Year] 800 Outgoing 600 400 Incoming 200 0 1996 1997 1998 1999

  20. Submarine Optical Cables Infrastructure EMOS CIOS Cable RFCS Capacity EMOS 1990 280 Mb/s CIOS 1994 622 Mb/s LEV 1998 5 Gb/s FLAG 1999 5 Gb/s LEV FLAG

  21. Telecommunications Liberalization

  22. Regulatory Reform • Competition in fixed services. • Structural change of the telecommunications sector: • Liberalization. • Privatization. • Re-regulation.

  23. Re-regulation Includes: • Competition rules - open access & non-discrimination. • Universal service - obligations, reciprocal compensation (if required). • Interconnection - tariffs, technical standards. • General license owners - obligations, structural regulation, services, coverage, interconnection. • Numbering - administration, portability, new numbering plan. • Policy - regulatory activity. • National security.

  24. Competition Rules • Three tier market structure: • Mobile services (Cellular & PCS). • Fixed domestic services (infrastructure, transmission, data comm’s & telephony). • International services. • Facilities-based competition. • Universal service and open access obligationsincluding equal terms service offering requirement, at non-discriminatory tariffs. • Structural separation & Cross-ownership rules, assuring fair competition.

  25. Facilities-Based Competition • New operators are required to set up their own facilities. • No unbundling or co-location requirements on existing operators. • Interconnection & open access regulations: tariffs, technical requirements, equal access and number portability.

  26. Licenses for new operators • Generallicenses for fixed domestic services (infrastructure, transmission, data services & telephony) will be issued to applicants meeting economic and know-how criteria. • General license requiring limited spectrum resources (mobile, FWA) shall be issued through public tenders.

  27. 1999 2000 & onwards • Pelephone • Cellcom • Partner/Orange • PCS operators • Pelephone • Cellcom • Partner/Orange • Bezeq • Competing • Operators: • Wireline • Wireless • Bezeq • Bezeq International • Barak • Golden Lines • Additional operators • Bezeq International • Barak • Golden Lines Israel’s Telecommunications Map 1994 Mobile Services • Pelephone (Bezeq) Fixed Services (Infrastructure, Transmission & Telephony) • Bezeq International Long Distance Services • Bezeq

  28. New Frequency AllocationsThe key for competitive and growing marketplace

  29. New Frequency Bands Allocations Band Application Allocation Year 2 GHz DCS/UMTS 300 MHz up to 2005 2 GHz N-FWA/WLL 20 MHz 2000 3.5 GHz N-FWA/WLL 60 MHz 2000 26/28 GHz B-FWA/LMDS 1600 MHz 2000

  30. License Auctions for 2000 • Fixed Wireless Access: • Broadband (26/28 GHz) & Narrowband (2/3.5 GHz) + Microwave frequencies. • Up to 4 operators, selected in MSR (Multiple Simultaneous Round) auction. • Participation of Bezeq & CATV operators in the auction will be excluded. • Tender process planned to begin early 2000. • Additional Mobile Competition: • 2G (DCS-1800) & 3G (UMTS). • Allocations for new & existing operators. • Detailed to be announced during 2000.

  31. New NNP (National Numbering Plan)

  32. Existing NNP • Adopted by Bezeq in the late 80’s, as part of the network digitization program. • 8 digits number length: • Fixed: A NXX XXXX (area code + exchange code + local number) • Mobile: 5X NX XXXX (network Identification + subscriber number) • Services: variable length, 2 to 10 digits. • Prefixes: 0 - long distance (00, 01X - International) 1 - service prefix * - access to network services # - service deactivation.

  33. New NNP • Additional digit (9 digits number length): • Step 1 - Mobile: 5A [N]XX XXXX (A = 0,2,4; N = 2,3,8 for Cellcom; 4,5 for Orange, 6,7 for Pelephone) • Step 2 - Fixed: A [N]XXX XXXX • Area codes consolidation: • Area code 6 reclaimed for advanced services. • Further future consolidation (end up with 2 to 4 areas). • Services numbering re-arrangement : • 1XX for life-threatening emergency; 1XXX for other services. • 1 YYY XXX XXX logical numbering. • Toll-free number portability.

  34. Will We Have Enough Telephone Numbers? Numbers [Millions] Number Type Old NNP New NNP Geographic 56 160 - 320 Mobile 8 80 Logical - 160 - 80 New Services 10 100 Future Use - 240 - 160

  35. Bezeq In the New Era

  36. Bezeq in the New Era • Tariff controls, until market share in domestic services (infrastructure, transmission, data services & telephony) falls bellow 60%. • Tariff re-balancing, dealing with access deficit and cross subsidies. • Structural separation. • Universal service obligation.

  37. Bezeq Tariff Rebalancing - April 1999 • One-step rate rebalancing, almost eliminating cross-subsidies between services (voice traffic still subsidizes telephone access). • New price-cap regime - productivity gap (x-factor) of 7% (6% in 1999, will be adjusted if Bezeq output deviates from predictions). • 6% average rate decrease (21% decrease on voice traffic, 16% increase on fixed monthly payment. Typical tariffs - NIS 0.208 for local call, NIS 36.1 monthly payment, 532 NIS for line installation). • ROE (before tax) - 10.5%.

  38. Interconnection Rates Interconnection Israel EU Tariff benchmarks Local 0.8 0.7-1 Urban Toll 1.3 1-2 National Toll 2.5 1.7-3 $1 US = NIS 4.16

  39. Bezeq Privatization • Government holds 54% of Bezeq shares (remaining shares are publicly held). • Government plans to sell all of its holdings through IPO & private placement. The process shall begin in 2000. • Government approval required for holding of more than 5%.

  40. Competition InBroadcastingServices

  41. Broadcasting Networks • Radio - • Public radio - 7 national AM/FM radio stations, AM Arabic channel & world-wide short-wave service. • Commercial radio: 14 local FM radio stations. • Television - • Public channel (Channel 1). • Commercial channel (Channel 2). • Multi-channel subscriber TV - 3 regional cable TV operators, providing service over 550 MHz (50 channels) systems, including 7 self-provided program channels.

  42. “Open Sky”Broadcasting Policy • Creating competitive broadcasting market. • Key policy ingredients - • Public broadcasting - new definitions (goals, structure, finance). • Commercial broadcasting - introduction of second commercial television channel & private country-wide radio stations. • Multi-channel subscriber television - introduction of direct broadcasting satellite, in competition with cable television. • Broadcasting digitization - radio & television, terrestrial, cable television & satellite (DAB/DVB).

  43. Competition inMulti-Channel Subscriber TV • License for DBS (Direct Broadcasting Satellite) issued January 1999: • Digital system, 60-120 cm receiving antennas. • Basic package of ~10 channels. • Additional pay channels/channel packages. • Local content obligations. • Additional independent cable/satellite channels, based on advertisement revenues.

  44. Broadcasting License Tenders for 2000 • Second commercial television channel. • Independent cable/satellite channels: • Israeli music. • News (2 channels). • Jewish heritage. • Immigration absorption. • Arabic channel.

  45. Summary

  46. Israel’s Regulatory Policy • Structural changes - achieving strategic advantage in competitive global markets. • Competition - the key for innovation, entrepreneurship, investment & growth. • Key action areas: • Liberalization. • Re-regulation. • Privatization.

  47. Regulation Philosophy • Free and competitive markets promote growth, efficiency, customer satisfaction & economic advantage. • Market restructuring, in transition from monopoly to open and free market, during a short time period, requires active and balanced regulatory intervention. • Once competitive marketplace is achieved, a strong regulator will provide unnecessary intervention, and should be abolished.

  48. Proactive Re-regulation • The end of the access monopoly: • Facility-based competition. • Alternative infrastructure: fiber, copper, cable, fixed wireless, satellite. • Simple interconnection rules: • Open access, carrier pre-selection & dialing parity. • Non-discriminatory interconnection tariffs. • Minimum compatibility requirements. • New numbering plan & frequency allocations.

  49. Israel’s Telecom Future: Real and Sustainable Growth • Technology-enabled evolution: • From simple fixed voice and narrowband to broadband, mobile, internet & advanced services. • From circuit switching to IP based infrastructure. • Rapid growth: Prediction for additional 1 million fixed connections, 1.5 million cellular customers & 1 million Internet users by 2003.

  50. Everything Is Internet! The Economist, May 2nd 1998

More Related