The IDC Israel research company predicts that Israeli international telephone operators? revenue will plunge 14.8% in 2004. A study by IDC Israel research director Gideon Lopez indicates that the international carriers had $226.9 million in revenue from calls in 2003, down 4.6% from 2002. Lopez states that the decline this year will be steeper, amounting to a $194 million drop, following the opening of the international calls market to competition.
The study found that overseas call minutes from Israel totaled 1.06 billion in 2003, 8.5% less than in 2002. IDC Israel predicts that the number of overseas calls will rise 1.2% in 2004, despite the expected fall in revenue, indicating that lower prices and the entry of new companies, which will take market shares away from the existing companies, will be the cause of the revenue loss.