Palestinian telecoms sector revenues plunge: World Bank

The Palestinian mobile phone industry lost more than $1 billion (885 million euros) in revenues in the past three years, the World Bank estimated Thursday, citing Israeli restrictions as a leading cause. Israel limits imports of equipment by Palestinian telecoms companies, while they are unable to operate in the parts of the occupied West Bank under direct Israeli control, a World Bank report said.
As such, more than 20 percent of customers in the West Bank use Israeli providers instead. "The sector was hindered by years of delay in mobile broadband, presence of unauthorised Israeli operators in the Palestinian market, restrictions on importing equipment, and absence of an independent regulator," said the report, entitled "Missed Opportunity for Economic Development". Israel and the Palestinian leadership signed a deal late last year to allow 3G Internet. "The Palestinian telecom sector has the potential to boost the economy and create job opportunities," Steen Lau Jorgensen, World Bank country director for West Bank and Gaza, wrote in the report.