Pelephone service center (archives)
Photo: Niv Calderon
Court orders Pelephone to pay gov't $40M
Mobile phone operator to make payments for royalties owed from October 1994 to February 1996
An Israeli court ordered Pelephone, the mobile phone unit of Bezeq Israel Telecom , to pay the government 150 million shekels ($40 million) in royalties, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.
The payments are for royalties owed from October 1994 to February 1996, the ministry said, adding Pelephone had argued it was not obligated to make payments at that time since it did not yet have an operator's license.
Pelephone was Israel's first mobile phone operator but is now the third largest after Cellcom and Partner Communications. Bezeq is the country's largest telecoms group.
The ministry said in a statement the suit it filed in court in 2000 was a "clear message that the government stands up for its rights and takes all measures to collect royalties owed it".
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