Ministry of Telecommunications denounces Israeli plans of cellular coverage

Jerusalem24 – The Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology today denounced Israel government decision that would allow Israeli cellular companies to expand their 4G coverage in the West Bank to reach 95%, ignoring international laws and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, Ishaq Sider, said in a statement that the ministry is closely following this matter with the relevant authorities, including the International Telecommunication Union and the International Quartet’s office, and it will go to international courts to put an end to this blatant transgression, through which the Israelis aim to destroy the Palestinian economy and the Palestinian telecommunications companies that would prevent the development of the Palestinian technological sector.

“While the Palestinians are still deprived until today of the 4G and 5G services, the Israeli government continues to impose a fait accompli on the ground and the cyberspace, which we consider a violation and theft of the Palestinian people’s resources,” he said, explaining that this grave step is not the first by Israel and that it is part of an Israeli policy that aims at dominating the Palestinian airwaves and resources that are necessary for operating modern communication technology services.

The Ministry called on all relevant international bodies to act immediately to put a stop to this Israeli transgression.

Palestine Telecommunications (Paltel) Group CEO, Ammar Aker, said the Israeli decision to expand the coverage of Israeli 4G networks in the Palestinian territories is tantamount to an invasion of the Palestinian market by those companies and an attempt to legitimize the Israeli settlements by treating them as part of the Israeli state.

Aker added that the Israeli occupation policy is to sustain the occupation of all that is Palestinian, and the airwaves are no exception to this policy, particularly since the Israeli occupation government continues to deny the Palestinian companies the right to use the 4G and 5G services, depriving as a result Palestinian subscribers from benefiting from the same services offered by the Israeli companies, which harms the competitiveness of the Palestinian companies.

He called on the international community to put a stop to such policies by forcing Israel to abide by international law and the laws governing the work of the telecommunications sector while refraining from imposing a fait accompli by force.

Ooredoo-Palestine Telecommunications Company CEO, Dergham Mari, said that this step gives a competitive advantage to the Israeli companies and inflicts great damage on the Palestinian telecommunications sector, considered one of the pillars of the Palestinian economy, which is already suffering from a ban on using the latest technological systems, especially the 4G and 5G networks, and the scarcity of frequencies granted to Palestinian companies.

He said that they will continue to demand their right for 4G and 5G networks, stressing that his company is ready to invest tens of millions of dollars to launch this service as soon as it is allowed.