Spacenet, a sister company of Internet company Aquanet, has started offering subscribers Internet hook-up on a satellite line of at least 1 megabyte bandwidth. This is to be implemented through a British Internet company by the name of Easynet, which provides the service in Britain.
Hitherto, Internet services bypassing Bezeq’s stationary network were not permitted in Israel. Spacenet has not applied to the Ministry of Communications for a permit to provide the service, and maintains it has legal opinions in its support.
Spacenet is 51% controlled by Aquanet general manager Manny Nahman. Other owners are Internet photography company Isracom (likewise a sister company of Aquanet), and Aptech, which represents Britain’s Mega Star, a company that develops cards enabling Internet reception via satellite.
Spacenet is offering to connect its clients via a fixed satellite line reaching a bandwidth of 1.5 megabytes (the company promises 1 megabyte). Installation cost is $750, which buys a meter wide satellite dish and a digital converter (PC card) of Britain’s Media Star company.
The monthly fee is $99. According to Nahman, this is expected to drop to $75. By way of comparison: the monthly fee for a Bezeq prime relay line, supplying an Internet line with a bandwidth of 64 kilobytes, is not less than $250.
Nahman said payment would be made directly to Easynet. According to the legal opinions he has obtained, no legal problem is involved here, and he, who only provides technical support, does not need a permit.
In effect, the system facilitates multi-channel televisions broadcasts via DBS satellite.
A Ministry of Communications spokesperson commented: "So far, we have never permitted Internet service bypassing Bezeq’s stationary network. Since the matter has come up, it will be examined and attended to accordingly". As regards television broadcasts, the spokesperson says that a number of bodies sell television broadcasts via satellite from other countries. The permit was given to DBS Satellite Services for broadcasts from Israel.
Published by Israel's Business Arena July 11, 1999