Select Communications failed to secure the financial guarantee from an Israeli bank, as stipulated in the tender terms, but instead attempted to obtain money from the Goldman Sachs Group. According to Globes, an Israeli business website, Golan Telecom will now have to come up with its initial bid of $104.8 million at the auction in April to secure the licence.
This is the second licence handover in the last month, after Select Communications inherited the 3G licence from 018 Xfone Communications in June. 018 Xfone successfully bid for the licence in April but encountered the same problem as Select and was not able to provide a bank guarantee.
Mirs Communications secured the second licence in April’s auction reportedly paying $206 million for it, which is almost double what Golan is expected to pay. Globes reported Mirs will try to block Golan’s bid but said that the operator’s intentions were not clear. The Israeli operator has tried to get Golan disqualified in the past but the claim was dismissed by the courts.
