PITA PalTel Press Release

Ramallah – 26-11-2002

Agreement to increase Internet Penetration in Palestine

Palestine Telecommunications Company “Paltel”

and the Palestinian IT Association of Companies “Pita”

Sign a Joint Initiative

Recognizing the importance of further developing the Internet in Palestine, PALTEL and PITA have agreed to enter into strategic cooperation through the signing of a joint initiative aimed at enhancing the resources required for developing Internet services and penetration in Palestine.  The initiative is based on the regulatory environment as provided by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, The cooperation is a step to help reach national objectives of increasing Internet usage by10% of the population in one year.

To achieve the goals of this initiative, PALTEL has voluntarily agreed to refrain from entering the Internet Service Provision business to end users in Palestine, despite being licensed to do so. PALTEL’s role will be to provide all infrastructure and backbone services required by the ISP’s, that are represented by PITA, ISP’s can expect to maximize the benefits from this initiative in order to provide optimal services to their end users at very reasonable prices.  In addition, all existing ISP’s have agreed to refrain from employing any services whether infrastructure, backbone, or access from any telecommunication service provider except from PALTEL, as it is  the sole license by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication .

According to Mosa’b Khourma,CEO of Paltel “this agreement once implemented will increase competition and improves services” companies will able  to be in compliance with International standards due to new infrastructure added Khourma”.

The two parties will engage in marketing efforts via strategies to alleviate penetration obstacles such as availability of relevant goods and services such as home PC’s, modems and telephone services.  Both sides will also work to promote Internet awareness and the new prospects the Internet shall bring  to the general development of the population.

“This agreement is a vital step towards spreading the power of Internet and improving quality via competition today we are entering anew era said Dr. Mashour Abudaka, Executive Director of PITA’

The private sector in Palestine has relied heavily on the Internet communication and  video conferencing to transact its business between remote locations given the difficult of travel between cities as a result of the on going hostilities

The cooperation between Paltel and Pita is welcome step in improving services towards more efficiency in the  private sector