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Israel: Antitrust Authority blocks Golan-Cellcom merger

By  |  April 12, 2016

The Antitrust Authority on Tuesday blocked a proposed merger between Golan Telecom and Cellcom, arguing that joining the companies would reduce competition in the market and raise prices for consumers.

“An analysis carried out by the Authority showed that the disappearance of Golan from the market is liable to also have an adverse effect on the behavior of Hot Mobile, another company that creates competition in the cellular market, since the pressure on it to compete will be reduced significantly,” the authority wrote in a statement.

Golan and Hot both entered the market following a major cellular reform led by then-communications minister Moshe Kahlon. Their entry led to a significant drop in prices, which manifested itself in a 38% drop in cellular profits between 2010 and 2014.

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