Electric Company to Enter Communications Market

Published on: February 5, 2013

This week, Minister of Energy and Water Dr. Uzi Landau signed a permit allowing Israel’s Electric Company (IEC) to become active in the communications field. The permit allows the IEC company to build a network using fiber optic communications.

Part of the project will create the infrastructure across the country to allow Israelis access to internet 10 times faster than today.   The communications network will also serve the electricity sector.

Minister Landau said, “This project is the result of cooperation between private enterprise and the Electric Company and will place the State of Israel at the forefront of global technology.  This project has the potential to contribute to the social and economic development of the country and help reduce the disparity between the Periphery and Central Israel.”

The IEC has committed to ensuring that their work in communications would not interfere with their work in the electricity sector. There will be no cross-subsidization between te two activities. The company will report in detail on both projects.

This project  has an estimated cost of 5 billion NIS  to be invested in the technology infrastructure of the State of Israel. Deployment of the network is expected to begin by the end of 2013.