Israel is going to come up with a 250+ kilometre fibre-optic cable that will be built between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and hence will go on to create a continuous link between Europe and the nations spread across the Gulf and Asia, said its Finance Ministry on June 25.
Europe Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC), which happens to be its state-owned energy group, is going to build the cable along the route of an oil pipeline that it operates across Israel through the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon to Eilot, situated in the northern Red Sea, said the ministry in a statement.
As per Itzik Levy, the EAPC Chief Executive, the project will position Israel as a communication land bridge that will help tag Gulf countries as well as Asia to Europe.
This cable is going to hook up to the cables in the subsea that will, at the end of the day, reach the shores of Israel. It is going to be available for any telecom company that is licenced in Israel under a lease of 25 years, according to the ministry.
The Europe Asia Pipeline Company- EAPC, offers its pipeline as an option for the Suez Canal. Apparently, environmental groups have for years called it a hazard and debated the safety record of the company. Importantly, in 2014, a pipeline breach flooded a desert nature reserve along with oil measuring a whopping 5 million litres.
As per the ministry, the deployment of the fibre-optic along the route of the pipeline will help in tracking any alterations that take place within the terrain and detecting possible leakages.