HOT owner Drahi mulls undersea cable to France

French businessman Patrick Drahi, the controlling shareholder in HOT Telecommunication Systems Ltd. (TASE: HOT) and owner of Mirs Communications Ltd., is considering laying an undersea telecommunications cable for the companies. Sources inform ''Globes'' that he raised the subject with the Ministry of Communications during one of his visits to Israel, but no final decision has yet been taken on the matter.

HOT is currently carrying out an economic review of the idea, because of recent developments, including a decision by Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) for subsidiary Bezeq International Ltd. to lay an undersea cable.

Drahi wants to lay a cable to link Israel to France and other countries where he operates, in order to create an independent network so as not to be dependent on his rivals. At the same time, the fact that Bezeq International is laying its own independent cable is very important for the development of Israel's Internet market. Telecommunications groups are forming that want to provide the entire range of services to customers without being dependent on each other.

The cost of a cable is estimated at $100 million.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 30, 2010