The Houthis are threatening to cut cables in the Red Sea – is this the solution that will protect our internet?

A new fiber optic network in the south: Cellcom today presented the advanced network that has spread along 250 kilometers to Eilat, and provides owners of submarine cables and communications bodies with an alternative to the maritime connections through the Suez Canal. The new network will strengthen the communications infrastructure in Israel, and will be an alternative in the shadow of the Houthis' threats to cutting Israel's submarine cables.

The optimistic fiber network connects to the border crossings with Jordan from north to south and is an extension of the Cellcom network that exists today throughout the country. The network will also open the possibility of connecting server farms and landing stations in strategic locations along the new fiber route. The network is also expected to improve connection speed for residents of the south and Eilat. With the launch, Cellcom informed its business partners in the south that they would be upgraded to the new fiber network.

The deployed fiber is made of glass known as "Corning" which has the ability to transmit higher rates over longer distances – thousands of gigabytes over hundreds of kilometers. The infrastructures are supposed to be used, among others, by the international content and cloud providers, communication operators and entities that are interested in backing up their existing infrastructures. It will also enable the transfer of information at rates higher than those available in the international media and, as mentioned, it will back up the submarine cable infrastructure, in the shadow of the Houthis' threats to cut them, a threat that was realized according to publications last February.

"The deployment of Cellcom's advanced terrestrial fiber between Eilat and Be'er Sheva is another layer in the response to threats in the region," said Communications Minister Shlomo Karai, "in the current security reality, in which the arms of the Iranian octopus are trying to sabotage the submarine cables in order to damage global communications – our answer, in the spirit of the times , it is unequivocal – 'As they torment him, so will he multiply and so will he break out.'

"The launch of Cellcom's new fiber network will contribute to the city of Eilat and the south of the country, and will be a secure infrastructure that will connect the East of the world to the West," said Einbal Meshash, Director General of the Ministry of Communications, "the deployment makes Israel a strategic asset and a central axis in global intercontinental data traffic."