RAMALLAH, West Bank, - Wataniya Palestine
launched its mobile phone service in the West Bank on Sunday
even though Israel has yet to release the full range of
frequencies agreed for the network, Palestinian officials said.
Mohammad Mustafa, head of the Wataniya Palestine board, said
the firm had begun functioning with a frequency range of 3.8
MHz, less than the 4.8 MHz Israel had agreed to open under an
agreement with the Palestinian Authority signed last year.
"They will give us the additional 1 MHz as soon as
possible," Mustafa told Reuters, adding that Middle East peace
envoy Tony Blair had promised the firm it would acquire the
remaining frequency.
A spokeswoman for Blair, envoy for an international quartet
of Middle East peace makers, had no immediate comment.
The dispute between Israel and the Palestinians has been
dragging on for more than two years. As occupying power, Israel
controls the airwaves of the West Bank, where 2.5 million
Palestinians live.
An Israeli official said last month the remaining frequency
would be released once the Palestinians had met their part of
the agreement, but did not detail what the unfulfilled
commitments were.
Wataniya Palestine is owned by Kuwait's National Mobile
Telecommunications Co, a unit of Qatar
Telecommunications Co and a holding company for
Palestinian public assets.
It enters the market alongside a network operated by the
Palestine Telecommunications Co (PalTel), until now the sole
provider. PalTel, which has about 1.5 million subscribers in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip, is majority owned by Kuwait's Mobile
Telecommunications Co (Zain) <ZAIN.KW>.
Wataniya Palestine had hoped to launch its service by Oct.
15 and had threatened to pull out if it could not have the full
4.8 MHz agreed by Israel. In June, the company demanded its
investment back unless the frequencies were opened.
The firm has invested some $270 million on infrastructure in
addition to a licence fee of $140 million paid to the
Palestinian Authority.
Mustafa said Wataniya Palestine would begin operations with
40,000 users who had registered during a promotional campaign
launched a month ago.
Mashoor Abu Dakka, Palestinian telecommunications minister,
said there would be a "long-term battle" for the release of the
remaining frequency. "The Israeli side didn't commit to what it
had promised. But we wanted the company to become a reality," he
said.
Blair had pressed Israel to release the frequencies as a way
to jumpstart the Palestinian economy.
The establishment of a second Palestinian mobile phone
network has been backed by the World Bank and the U.S.
government as part of efforts to boost support for Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas and his Western-backed government.