Sources inform ''Globes'' that Tamares Telecom Ltd., owned by Pujo Zabludowicz, is seeking to expand its license to sell Internet access directly to large enterprises, instead of going through an Internet service provider (ISP). The company laid an undersea cable linking Israel to Cyprus, where it links with the network of international cables to the rest of the world.
Tamares Telecom recently tried to reach an agreement with mobile carriers Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) and Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) to sell them Internet transmission capacity, but faced strong competition from MedNautilus Ltd., which has had an undersea cable for a long time, and succeeded in keeping the carriers by cutting prices.
Most communications traffic to and from Israel passes through the large ISPs Bezeq International Ltd., Cellcom, and Partner. Bezeq International has laid its own cable, while the two mobile carriers use MedNautilus. Tamares Telecom has won several customers, but not on a large scale. It therefore wants to expand its business by reaching business and institutional customers directly, effectively becoming an ISP, without the need to enter the household market.
This requires amending Ministry of Communications directives, which stipulate that international connections will only be via an ISP. The purpose is to prevent the undersea cable companies from selling services directly to large business customers, bypassing the ISPs.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 18, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012