23 May 2008
Kuwait's National Mobile Telecommunications Company (Wataniya) will launch the Palestinian territories' second mobile phone network by the end of the year, a senior Palestinian official revealed yesterday. Wataniya paid $354.3 million for the licence to build a second network in the Palestinian territories in September but has been waiting for Israel to provide the frequencies.
Mohammad Mustafa, head of the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), which owns 30 per cent of Wataniya's local business, said Israel had told the Palestinian Authority it was "committed to giving the frequencies".
"They gave us 2.4 Megahertz and they will give us a similar amount before the end of this year," Mustafa said in an interview on the sidelines of the Palestinian Investment Conference in Bethlehem. "Wataniya can start operating as soon as we get the frequency - before the end of this year," he added.
Mustafa said the 4.8 Megahertz would be enough capacity to serve one million subscribers in the Palestinian territories, home to four million people. Jawwal, the sole Palestinian mobile firm, has about one million subscribers. Wataniya was ready to install hundreds of transmission towers in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and had signed deals with distributors and equipment importers.
The World Bank said in February that Israel and the Palestinian Authority should open the Palestinian mobile phone sector to competition to improve efficiency and lower tariffs. It said the PalTel group, whose subsidiary Jawwal is the only authorised mobile operator in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, effectively operates as a monopoly and thus hurts the economy.
Kuwait's National Mobile Telecommunications Company (Wataniya) will launch the Palestinian territories' second mobile phone network by the end of the year, a senior Palestinian official revealed yesterday. Wataniya paid $354.3 million for the licence to build a second network in the Palestinian territories in September but has been waiting for Israel to provide the frequencies.
Mohammad Mustafa, head of the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), which owns 30 per cent of Wataniya's local business, said Israel had told the Palestinian Authority it was "committed to giving the frequencies".
"They gave us 2.4 Megahertz and they will give us a similar amount before the end of this year," Mustafa said in an interview on the sidelines of the Palestinian Investment Conference in Bethlehem. "Wataniya can start operating as soon as we get the frequency - before the end of this year," he added.
Mustafa said the 4.8 Megahertz would be enough capacity to serve one million subscribers in the Palestinian territories, home to four million people. Jawwal, the sole Palestinian mobile firm, has about one million subscribers. Wataniya was ready to install hundreds of transmission towers in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and had signed deals with distributors and equipment importers.
The World Bank said in February that Israel and the Palestinian Authority should open the Palestinian mobile phone sector to competition to improve efficiency and lower tariffs. It said the PalTel group, whose subsidiary Jawwal is the only authorised mobile operator in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, effectively operates as a monopoly and thus hurts the economy.
© 7Days 2008
