Evading business ties with the Israelis, Palestinian telecom company Paltel is purchasing equipment to build a new international call network that would eliminate the need to depend on technology from the Jewish state.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) currently does not have an independent international calling system. Communication from abroad reaches Paltel through one of three Israeli international telecom providers, making it possible for calls to the West Bank and Gaza strip to be monitored by Israel.
Paltel has not officially announced plans to build the network; however the firm has ordered equipment from underwater cable company Med Nautilus and has requested greater bandwidth capacity for data communications from Israeli internet companies, Haaretz reported.
Israeli international calling networks are likely to suffer financial losses should the new Paltel network become operational. Israeli armed forces will also have difficulty monitoring communications from abroad to the PA.
According to Paltel, Israel’s military campaign in PA areas cost the firm $13.5 million in losses by the end of 2002. Some $6.5 million of these lost funds was attributed to a direct four percent loss in Paltel’s assets, while the remaining seven million dollars were lost due to a drop in customer activity. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
