Wataniya finally launches in West Bank.

Wataniya Mobile finally began operations after months of disputes with Israel. This will break Paltels monopoly and is likely to drive down prices.
Qtel owns 57% of Wataniya Palestine and the remainder is owned by  the public Palestine Investment Fund. Wataniya has invested USD 100 Million already and a further $700m is planned over the next decade.
Current penetration in the west bank is only 35% which Wireless Federation expects to go up rapidly following the launch of Wataniya. Paltel currently has 1.5 million Palestinian subscribers.
Wataniya said it has received only 3.8MHz of bandwidth from Israel, instead of the 4.8MHz that had been promised. Without this Wataniya will not be able to launch 3G services.

Wataniya Mobile finally began operations after months of disputes with Israel. This will break Paltels monopoly and is likely to drive down prices.

Qtel owns 57% of Wataniya Palestine and the remainder is owned by  the public Palestine Investment Fund. Wataniya has invested USD 100 Million already and a further $700m is planned over the next decade.

Current penetration in the west bank is only 35% which Wireless Federation expects to go up rapidly following the launch of Wataniya. Paltel currently has 1.5 million Palestinian subscribers.

Wataniya said it has received only 3.8MHz of bandwidth from Israel, instead of the 4.8MHz that had been promised. Without this Wataniya will not be able to launch 3G services.

Local press reports, cited by BNamericas, state that twelve companies have expressed an interest in bidding for one of two Panamanian mobile licences in an auction process that is due to start on 27 October and be awarded in May 2008. Public services regulator Asep revealed the interested parties to be: America Movil, Orange, Millicom International Cellular, Digicel, Vtel, Global Star, Clarocom, Cable Onda, Advanced Communication, Innovation Wireless, Torres Troncales and Pan American Wireless. Horacio Hoquee, Asep’s assistant director for fixed line telephony, was quoted as saying that the number of companies could increase given that the prequalification stage is open until January 28. Panama currently has two mobile operators, Telefonica-owned Movistar and Cable & Wireless.