Bezeq Israel has won the Telecom Italia Sparkle-Google tender to lay a cable across Israel linking Europe and Asia, Globes reported. The cable will be part of the Telecom Italia Sparkle global backbone comprising 540,000 kilometers of terrestrial fibre and international sub-marine cables. Bezeq prevailed over Hot Telecom in the final bid for the tender, with IBC/Cellcom Israel and Partner Communications also bidding in the earlier stages.
The terrestrial fibre section of the cable that Bezeq will lay will extend from the Mediterranean coast to Eilat and serve as a potential bypass to Egypt, linking Europe to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf in the existing global network. The tender includes two separate cables, with one backing up the other, but under the terms of the tender, Sparkle is not committed to buying both cables.
As part of the project, a landing station will be built, connecting the sub-marine and terrestrial cables, somewhere between Haifa and Rishon Lezion, which will be subject to a separate tender.
