Israel sets sights on high speed internet network
Rebecca Hawkes ©RapidTVNews | 09-02-2012
A super fast internet network to deliver high definition television, 3DTV and other bandwidth rich services is on the cards for Israel after four companies submitted preliminary bids for the project.
The state run Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) has been selected by the government to find investors for the fibre optic to the home (FTTH) network, which is proposed to increase the country's internet speeds by 100 times, to 1 gigabit per second.
Sweden's Viaeurope; defence electronics firm Elbit Systems; Israeli telecom equipment provider BATM Advanced Communications; and RAPAC Communications and Infrastructure are the four contenders to upgrade the network, according to Reuters.
The successful bidder will be announced in May, after financing is secured. The new private company will be 51% owned by the winning group, while IEC will hold the remaining 49% stake.
The instillation, which will see the deployment of 25,000km of optical fibre, will begin in early 2013 and aim to cover two-thirds of Israel by 2020.
Currently Israel's largest telecommunications company Bezeq provides 1.1 million customers with internet connectivity, via fibre to the curb and copper lines to the home. Cable company HOT serves the remaining internet market, with a 41% share.
Bezeq has already begun its own FTTH trials, and is said to welcome the competition proposed by the government.
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