Partner (Photo: Walla! Technology, Yanon Ben Shoshan)
Bezeq signed a long-term agreement (IRU) with Partner for the supply of fiber optic infrastructure.
According to the agreement, Partner will be able to use Bezeq's 120,000 fiber optic lines at a rate of 1 gigabyte, for a period of 15 years, starting this January.
Bezeq is expected to receive about a billion shekels in return.
The agreement is expected to increase the usability and utilization of Bezeq's fiber network, and will create certainty regarding future revenues from the wholesale market, while immediately increasing the coverage areas and shortening the "time to market" of additional providers.
Partner will be able to significantly increase the number of the company's fiber subscribers, which according to the latest report stands at about 277 thousand customers - the highest number in the market, out of about 929 thousand households that are reached by Partner Fiber's infrastructure.
The right to use the lines will be granted in 5 equal annual installments, meaning 24,000 lines per year, starting January 1, 2023. The total consideration to be paid by Partner to Bezeq is approximately NIS 574 million plus VAT.
In addition, the company will pay annual maintenance fees at a rate of 4 percent of the proceeds.
The terms of the deal include a payment deployment mechanism as well as linkage mechanisms.
In addition, the partner has the option of bringing forward the dates for both the right to use the lines and the payment for it.
Partner for Bezeq stands at approximately NIS 574 million plus VAT (Photo: Ronan Topelberg)
Following the signing of the agreement, Bezeq Group Chairman Gil Sharon said, "The IRU agreement we signed with Partner will bring consumer welfare in the form of greater competition, both in terms of price and service, and will enable accelerated growth of fiber penetration and customer connection across the country.
For Bezeq, it provides greater certainty in the use of its fiber network."
Sharon further added, "The Ministry of Communications as a policy outline, and the companies as the executing agency, will meet the task of extensive deployment of optical fibers, while competing between 3 infrastructures.
As of today, the deployment rate of fiber in Israel is very high compared internationally.
By the end of 2022, the rate of access to fiber will reach 70% of households, and by the end of 2024, the rate of access to fiber will be close to 100%."
CEO of the Partner Group, Avi Gabai: "The transaction gives Partner the possibility to reach our television and internet customers faster with optical fibers in general.
The current transaction is the second phase of Partner's fiber strategy, where the first phase focused on the rapid and initial deployment and the goal of the second phase is to reach every household in Israel."
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