Fiber optics (freepik photography)
The Ministry of Communications announces today (Wednesday) the final results of the incentive tender. At the end of the second phase of the pricing process, the first incentive tender came to an end, with a total of 287,000 households competing in 330 localities receiving an average subsidy of approximately NIS 285 per household. The retirement of the winning areas is expected to begin immediately with the amendment of the companies’ licenses and according to the terms of the tender, the retirement is expected to end during the year 2023. Thus, within a year and three months 60% of the kickback areas will be fiber optic.
10 companies approached the tender, and at the end of the tender process they all won at least one bid, as detailed below: The company that won the largest number of households is Rimon Israel Ltd., which won 121,000 households in 137 areas. Norcom Communications Ltd. With about 56.7 thousand households in 38 areas. ABC Israel Broadband Company (IBC) Ltd. with about 53.9 thousand households in 92 areas. Method Engineering and Communication Infrastructure Ltd. with about 23.7 thousand households in 113 areas. Partner Stationary Communication Solutions (S.M.) with about 12,000 households in 35 areas.
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Eshed Planning and Execution Management Ltd. with about 5.7 thousand households in 10 areas. Dash Eliran Electronics Ltd. with about 5.5 thousand households in 23 areas. Lanir Communications Ltd. (X-Fiber) with about 3.7 thousand households in 5 areas. Nextcom Ltd. with about 3.6 thousand households in 11 areas. Telran Communications 1986 Ltd. with about 1.4 thousand households in 10 areas.
The areas that won the tender are areas in which the deployment of fiber is not economically viable and Bezeq has chosen not to deploy fiber in it. The companies that win the tender will be given a period of one year and three months from the date their license is renewed, to complete the retirement obligations and therefore a massive retirement is expected in 2022, which will bring the State of Israel closer to 70% of households. More. The Ministry of Communications will oblige the companies that win the tender to provide their competitors with a wholesale service on the network that will be interpreted by them and to offer services to consumers, thus promoting competition in the kick-off areas.
As part of the fiber outline set forth in a law passed in the Knesset in December 2020, the incentive fund was established, to which 0.5% of the revenues of the communications companies per year are deposited. In 2021, these revenues amounted to approximately NIS 84 million. Approximately 98% of this amount will be distributed to the winning companies in the tender as subsidies for the retirement of the advanced network in the incentive areas (all incentive areas include approximately 18% of households in Israel and the winning incentive areas constitute approx. 10%).
High-speed Internet and advanced technology are a significant engine of growth in the development of the economy and economies in many countries around the world. Studies conducted in countries where an advanced fiber-based network has been deployed have shown that as a result of the retirement, there has been an increase in GDP and productivity and socio-economic disparities have been reduced.
Minister of Communications, Yoaz Handel: “We are pleased to announce today the companies that won the tender and wish them great success. The incentive fund was established as part of the fiber outline, to ensure that no remote locality and sector will be left behind. “Quick in the peripheral localities, in the ultra-Orthodox sector and in the Arab sector are critical to reducing the gaps, and integrating into Israeli society and the Israeli economy. The results of the tender are amazing news for the periphery: a third of all winning areas are in the Arab sector.”
“In about a year, about 97% of the households in the kick-off areas in the ultra-Orthodox sector will have access to high-speed Internet. Almost all of Judea and Samaria will be deployed following the tender, and retirement there will be close to 90% of households in kick-off areas. According to the Communications Law, I was given the authority to prioritize certain areas in the tender, and I decided to give priority to the border areas, and as a result, about 70% of the border areas will be spread out. “This is nothing less than a social and economic revolution that will be an engine of growth for the entire economy, and the more successful the winning companies are in the task, the whole of the State of Israel will benefit.”
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