Paltel

Palestinian Telecommunication
الاتصالات الفلسطينية
Public Shareholding Co. Ltd
Industry Telecomunications
Founded 1997
Headquarters Ramallah, Palestine
Area served
 Palestine
Key people
 Sabeeh Masri, Mohammad Mustafa
Products Fixed, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, SMS, MMS, ISP
Number of employees
 3,000
Parent Paltel
Subsidiaries Paltel fixed line, Hadara, PalMedia, Reach, Hulul
Website http://www.paltel.ps

Palestinian Telecommunication (Arabic: الاتصالات الفلسطينية‎‎), doing business as Paltel, is the largest private-sector company in Palestine, employing almost 2,000 people.[1] Its subsidiaries include the landline network Paltel,[2] which was in service in 1994,[3] and internet services provider Hadara.[4] It was founded by Mohammad Mustafa, who is the current CEO.[5][6] Paltel Group makes up 29% of the Palestinian Authority's gross national product and accounts for 33% of the worth of the Palestine Securities Exchange.

History

In 1995, when Yasser Arafat set up the Palestine Telecommunications Co, only 3% of Palestinians owned a telephone;[7] applicants would have to wait years for a connection by Bezeq, the Israeli state-owned provider.[8] The initial three-year plan was to invest $600m in the West Bank and Gaza in order to increase customers from 85,000 to 250,000.[9] An agreement was reached in 1997 to acquire knowhow from Cable and Wireless,[10] and in 1998 Ericsson won the contract to supply a GSM cellular network.[11] That year Arafat called on mobile users to switch to Paltel which would soon become the sole providers for the two regions.[12]

The mobile operator of PaltelGroup, with its 2 million subscribers,[13][14] has stopped a merger operation with Zain,[15] but still will join the One Network project in the year 2010.

In 2015, Paltel and fellow provider al-Wataniyya Telecommunications were granted access by Israeli authorities to use 3G, something they were previously restricted from doing.[16]

Controversies

In April 2016, the company's founding chief executive officer (CEO), Mohammad Mustafa, has been named in the Panama Papers.[17]

Subsidiaries

References

  1. ↑ Devi, Sharmila, Financial Times, 29 March 2007
  2. ↑ PALTEL selects Alcatel-Lucent's optical solution to transform backbone network in the Palestinian territories | Alcatel-Lucent | AMEinfo.com
  3. ↑ Tough conditions - Telecoms - News & Features - ITP.net
  4. ↑ Hadara for Technological Investment Company, Hadara, Hadara Technologies
  5. ↑ "Mohammad A. Mustafa Ph.D.: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  6. ↑ https://www.weforum.org/people/mohammad-mustafa
  7. ↑ Prusher, Ilene R. Palestinians sprint to break Israeli grip on phone lines, The Christian Science Monitor 20 August 1996
  8. ↑ Dempsey, Judy. Paltel on fast track to solve communication problem Financial Times 11 December 1996
  9. ↑ Machlis, Avi. Palestinian telecoms plan Financial Times 19 November 1996.
  10. ↑ Dempsey, Judy. C&W appeals to Israeli PM: Financial Times 25 November 2011
  11. ↑ Ericsson, Financial Times 9 July 1998
  12. ↑ Christopher Walker Arafat renews vow to declare independence The Times 10 July 1998
  13. ↑ Palestinian Market Briefs - U.S. Commercial Service West Bank and Gaza
  14. ↑ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3882440,00.html
  15. ↑ Zain-Paltel share swap deal abandoned - Telecoms - News & Features - ITP.net
  16. ↑ http://www.imemc.org/article/73932
  17. ↑ "Panama Papers: The Power Players". International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Retrieved April 3, 2016.


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