Wataniya Palestine Wants its License Fee Back

Wataniya Palestine, which has an operator license covering the West Bank and Gaza has demanded its license fee to be refunded due to ongoing delays from the Israeli government in releasing the necessary radio spectrum.

The Palestinian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTIT) awarded a GSM/3G license to Wataniya in 2006, after it agreed to pay JD251 million (US$354 million). Wataniya Mobile officials estimate the phone network would draw about US$650 million in foreign investment to the West Bank and create as many as 2,500 jobs in the first two years.

Middle East envoy, and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has also reportedly pressed Israel to release the frequencies, as a way to jumpstart the Palestinian economy and boost support for Mahmoud Abbas and his Western-backed government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The company has already deployed some Ericsson supplied hardware as it starts to build out its network, and had expected to launch its network by the end of last year.

"They (Wataniya Palestine) are demanding their money back, plus another $200 million in expenses for installing some equipment, running costs and other things," Palestinian Communications Minister Mashhour Abu Daqqa told Reuters. "How can we afford paying all of this at a time we are struggling to pay salaries?" he added.

Wataniya Palestine is owned and controlled by the Palestine investment fund and Wataniya Telecom of Kuwait. Wataniya Telecom is majority-owned by Qatar's Qtel.

On the web: Reuters - Wataniya Palestine

Posted to the site on 8th June 2009