BezeqThe offer intended for new customers results in attractive prices: infrastructure for 5 Mbps or 10 Mbps at a weighted price of NIS 60 per month with a one-year commitment.Current customers pay NIS 100 per month for these speeds, a higher rate than at HOT.It is important to remember that a person who has a telephone line from another company (Orange, NetVision, Smile) and chooses Bezeq’s ADSL infrastructure, pays an additional NIS 25 per month for the line.HOTHOT has reduced its choice of access speeds and now offers 2.5, 5, 12 and 100 Mbps. The offer for 12 Mbps averages NIS 92 per month with an 18-month commitment.Triple Play customers are offered discounts on the Internet infrastructure.In any event, upgrading access speeds by current customers resets the commitment period.EXIT FINESIt is impossible without exit fines.HOT charges an exit fine of NIS 300 for leaving an Internet plan, plus an additional NIS 19 for month each month you were connected. At Bezeq, the model reduces the fine over time from NIS 400 to NIS 100.Under the updated offers, a customer who chooses 2.5 Mbps access speed will pay NIS 80 for the infrastructure and ISP (if he chooses the cheaper alternative),and will pay NIS 100 per month for 5 Mbps in a good case.BUNDLED PACKAGESThe talk in recent months has been about how the Hayek Committee may result in changes in the telecommunications industry by consolidating ISPs and infrastructure providers. This combination, which exists nowhere in the world, has advantages and disadvantages in bargaining power, conduct toward two companies and so forth.For the ISPs, such a bundling is welcome.Bezeq and HOT are not so pleased. HOT, which received a license allowing it to offer services also as an ISP via HOT.net, will soon announce its rates, which will presumably give its competitors a run for their money through bundled plans.THE LIST PRICEAlthough the bundled plans now on offer include direct payment to the ISP or Bezeq, the consumer is connected to, and committed to, both companies separately. Note that when the period expires, the price paid to the ISP and the infrastructure provider jumps to the list price, which is high.Bundled plans should lower costs, but not always, and they are suitable for customers whose commitments to Bezeq or HOT have expired. For example, the bundled plan of Smile for 5 Mbps with Bezeq or HOT costs NIS 120 per month. Separating the two services, using Bezeq’s infrastructure, the cost is NIS 100 per month (NIS 40 to Smile and NIS 60 for the infrastructure).Conversely, Bezeq, which for the first time is allowed to offer bundled plans, is offering attractive monthly rates to new customers at reduced rates for the first six months with a 12-month commitment.For example, a 5 Mbps plan will cost NIS 81.50 per month (NIS 34 per month for the first six months and NIS 130 per month from the seventh month), compared with NIS 110-130 for bundled plans for 5 Mbps offered by ISPs.
THINGS TO KNOW• Speed is not free. Upgrading access speeds means extra payment for the Internet infrastructure to Bezeq or HOT.Do not forget to check whether the infrastructure in your area supports the speed that you want.• Bargaining pays. Don’t be satisfied with the first offer you receive.• Quitting costs. Exit fines among ISPs equal the balance for the remaining time.• Quitting costs compounded. The exit fine at HOT inflates over time.• No price for freedom. Think twice before you commit and you are unable to take advantage of competitors’ offers. Xfone and Triple C offer low rates with no commitments.• Low price for the initial period. The first six months go by fast, and then the price frequently jumps. Check the average price.• NetVision is attractive. Among the big three ISPs, NetVision is the cheapest, with an 18-month commitment.• Three cheers for competition. HOT will soon announce its prices as an ISP (HOT.net), which will further improve competition.• When is Bezeq worthwhile? Bezeq offers low bundled rates for new customers with one-year commitments.• Do bundled plans pay? Amazingly, bundled plans do not necessary result in lower rates. Compare all bundle plans of each company separately.