Israel's Ministry of Communications has in principle decided to grant a license to operate communications services to the Mekorot national water company. As required by law, the Ministry of Communications is consulting with the Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources for its opinion on the matter, before making the final decision.
The entrance of Mekorot into the communications sector will intensify competition and is expected to bring down prices.
In recent years, Mekorot has been expanding its deployment of fiber optic cables throughout Israel, mainly for its own purposes in order to monitor water pipes and detect leaks. The company has lines in Jerusalem and Hebron, Beersheva, the Jordan Valley and the Arava and Eilat, among other places.
Mekorot is now seeking to take optimum advantage of these fiber optic cables to sell broadband services to companies and compete with Bezeq, Hot, IBC (Unlimited) and Partner.
The Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources said, "We have received a request for consultation from the Ministry of Communications and the issue is being examined. It should be stressed that the license is granted by the Ministry of Communications and the enquiry is for consultation, as required by law."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 15, 2022.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2022.