PALESTINIAN MOBILE OPERATORS ASK FOR HELP IN AREA C

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000040 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/IPA, SEMEP, AND EEB; NSC FOR KUMAR; COMMERCE FOR WEIGLER E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2020 TAGS: ECON EINV ECPS KPAL KWBG IS SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN MOBILE OPERATORS ASK FOR HELP IN AREA C REF: 09 JERUSALEM 2197 Classified By: CG Daniel Rubinstein, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: The two Palestinian mobile telephone operators (Jawwal and Wataniya) say they continue to struggle with lack of coverage throughout the West Bank, penetration of Israeli settlement-based cellular networks into Palestinian urban areas, and small frequency allotments (compared to those of their Israeli competitors). These difficulties result in increasing costs for consumers, lost revenues for the Palestinian Authority (PA),and a delay in the introduction of the latest services, like 3G, that customers in Israel and the rest of the region now take for granted. ¶2. (C) Summary cont'd: Each company is now suffering, as Jawwal CEO Ammer Aker put it, from "frequency fatigue." Neither believes that the GOI is going to provide any additional frequency in the near term. They are, instead, focusing on securing permission to erect cellular antennas in Area C to broaden coverage. Jawwal and Wataniya executives separately passed post a full list of their proposed Area C antennae sites with geographic coordinates, coverage area, and customers served. They asked for USG assistance in engaging the GOI on the outstanding permits. Post will provide the information to NEA/IPA and SEMEP via unclassified email. End Summary. Area C Priorities: Major West Bank Roads, Allenby, Hebron -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Palestinian mobile telephone operators are focused on expanding their coverage into Area C (the nearly 60% of the West Bank that falls under full Israeli control for security, planning, and construction) as a means to improve the quality of their service and lower costs to consumers. Jawwal executives told EconOffs that their customers are limited to roaming on Israeli carriers, at great expense, whenever they travel between West Bank cities. Comment: Most private sector contacts carry two phones: one Palestinian and one Israeli. They confirm that it is more cost-effective for them to use their Israeli phones in many areas inside the West Bank. End Comment. ¶4. (SBU) Jawwal CEO Ammer Aker identified the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge area and the main Palestinian roads connecting the municipalities of Ramallah, Nablus, and Jericho as Jawwal's priorities. He noted that the proposed site on the Ramallah-Nablus road alone would benefit 40% of Jawwal's subscribers. Jawwal and Wataniya each complained that Allenby Bridge, as the primary crossing out of the West Bank for most Palestinians (approximately 1.5 million crossings each year -- many of which involve significant time waiting), remains the sole domain of Israeli cellular operators. Wataniya CEO Allan Richardson focused on the importance of Hebron, noting that the H2 area of Hebron, the majority of whose inhabitants are Palestinians, does not have reliable access to Palestinian mobile networks. Settlement Freeze Impacting Permits? -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The GOI has not approved an Area C permit for cellular operators since 1999, according to Jawwal. Aker said that he has submitted Jawwal's priority list of 25 sites several times over the past several years, and received no response. Wataniya confirmed it had also submitted and paid for permits for its 22 proposed sites in Area C. According to Wataniya engineer Jamal Yassen, representatives from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) told him during a late December 2009 meeting that they had received an order to freeze all applications for building sites in Area C for Palestinian and Israeli operators as part of the GOI's freeze on residential construction in West Bank settlements. ¶6. (SBU) Wataniya's Richardson suggested several compromises that could address security concerns that the GOI might have about Area C sites, such as allowing the GOI to control and/or monitor access to the sites or beginning with permits for the nearly 2/3 of Wataniya's proposed sites that are on rooftops in Palestinian towns in Area C. Frequencies Remain a Problem, But We're Tired of the Conversation -------------- ¶7. (C) Both Jawwal and Wataniya executives privately complain that their limited frequency allotments (4.8 MHz and 3.8 MHz, respectively) are a fraction of what their Israeli competitors operate on, and result in poor service with too many dropped calls and limited enhancements. As a result, they lose business to Israeli operators, whose settlement-based antennae provide strong signals and 3G capability, even inside urban Palestinian structures. Comment: ConGen officers whose cellphone service is provided by an Israeli mobile company routinely get a strong signal in the West Bank, even when inside PA buildings. Palestinian executives claim that this must be deliberate, as there are technical methods that allow operators to prevent unwanted "bleeding" outside the desired service area. End Comment. ¶8. (C) West Bank telecom executives also note their inability to provide 3G services with the frequencies they are currently assigned, and claim that unregulated broadband services are available via the settlements, undermining their own pricing schemes and product development efforts. One PalTel Board Member told EconChief that an Israeli company is aggressively marketing a broadband wireless adapter in Palestinian cities and that, from his Ramallah apartment window, he has a clear view of a neighboring settlement, from which he can receive an excellent broadband connection. ¶9. (SBU) Jawwal and Wataniya executives have grown weary of discussions on spectrum allocation. They now prefer to focus on Area C issues and technical improvements to their services, and have asked for USG assistance in raising the outstanding Area C permits with the GOI. RUBINSTEIN