11-3-2007- Palestinian Telecommunication Group’s Executive Chairman, Dr. Abdel Malek Jaber Al-Jaber, announced: the Group is conducting negotiations to enter mobile and landline telecommunication markets in the Arab World, Africa and Latin America.

 

Al-Jaber;  CEO of VTel''s; Paltel''s investment branch abroad, added:   VTEL has suggested an official offer mid last February to purchase 51% from the Ugandan Telecommunications Company, we are waiting an answer to our offer, and soon there will be a decision in this regard”.

 

Al-Jaber, also said: “VTel” is conducting negotiations to purchase a majority share of 51% in a governmental telecommunication company in Byelorussia, where “VTel’s” delegation is there in this regard”.

“VTel” is conducting negotiations to receive licenses in order to provide telecommunication services to Algeria and Sudan’s markets. Al-Jaber clarified: “VTel” is interested in the East Coast of Africa and the former Soviet Union, in addition to South America markets such as Bolivia, Salvador and Colombia “we hope to achieve agreements in these markets this year”, indicating that the Company has allocated 500 million Dollars to implement its penetration plans in these markets in 2007. “VTel” previously purchased majority shares in some Caribbean markets, it owned 54% in “Sun Beach” Company in Barbados, which is listed in the stock market. He added “We paid only two cents for the one share while its current price is seventy cents. There is an excellent work team in Barbados, and we have a successful work plan. The service is there, and it will be penetrated this year”. Also, in the Caribbean area, “Vi Tel owns 51% of a new telecommunication company in Jamaica, where its service is expected to be launched by mid of 2007.

License crisis in Kenya “VTel” won, in the last quarter of the last year, the second license of mobile telephone in Kenya for 169.5 million Dollars, but it so far faces problems with the local partner preventing the new company’s launching . Al-Jaber said “after winning the license, it was supposed to issue a bank warranty of 8.5 million dollars, but one of local partners did not pay his share, so we informed the Kenyan authorities about that”. He added “despite this problem, “Vi Tel” decided to go ahead, we paid the total bank warranty, we and the official authorities resumed looking for a solution to the local partner problem. We related the license final application to solving this problem”. The law in Kenya stipulates that local partners shall own a share not less than 30% from the second operator of the mobile telecommunications, from the first day, however, Kenyan authorities tend to amend the law to allow the allocation of 30% of the new company shares to local partners who are unnecessary to be partners from the first day, but during five years, or to circulate this percentage in the local stock market. Al-Jaber said “we didn’t apply the final application for the license which pushed the Kenyan authorities to offer the license to the company which has the second offer following “Vi Tel”, it is an Indian company, but under the condition to raise its offer price to be the same as“VTel’s” offer (169.5 million dollars), which didn’t take place so far”. He added “we expect the local partner’s problem will be solved since Kenyan authorities will amend the law soon. This will be good for us as a foreign investor.

Structural changes: “VTel” was established in the second half of 2006 with one and a half billion dollars capital of which Paltel owns 20%, and Arab investors are sharing it. Al-Jaber has occupied its two positions, the Executive Chairman and the Board of Directors’ Executive Chairman since its establishment, but he has, recently, left the Executive Chairman position. Al-Jaber said, in this context, “There was an extreme difficulty in holding Paltel’s executive tasks on one hand, and “VTel’s” on the other. Recently, there was a discussion with the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Sabih Al-Masri, and it was agreed on appointing an Executive Chairman to “Vi Tel” I will stay its Board of Directors’ Executive Chairman”. He added” this was the best choice for me because it allows me to concentrate my efforts in the Palestinian market. Furthermore, Al-Jaber said: the year 2007 will witness a qualitative change in the services provided by Paltel Group’s companies, whether at the level of landline and mobile telephone services or at the internet and other services level. The Group consists of five companies: Palestinian Telecommunications for landline telephone services, “Jawwal” for mobile telephone services, “HADARA” for merging technology in landline and mobile telecommunication services to the customers, “Pal Media” for media services and finally “HULUL” for software. And he said “The year 2006 was the year of the Group companies’ establishment, and now they are fully constructed and became technically, administratively and financially ready to provide their specialized services”. He added “2007 will witness a qualitative change in the Group’s services in terms of diversity and new service launching  whether in the internet field, landline and mobile line, international communication, ADSL services and providing full service Broadband for competitive prices, whereas the citizen can buy the whole Broadband with substantial reductions”. Al-Jaber said:  “Jawwal” customers for mobile telephone, which belongs to Paltel, will exceed one million customers in the first half of the current year, and this will constitute a new qualitative change since “Jawwal” became a main regional player and it is preparing to launch a set of services during this year”. At the internet services level, Al-Jaber said: this year will witness an intensive activity to penetrate the ADSL services, “our target is to reach 80 thousand customers by a 20% which is a very high percentage compared to the neighbor countries”.

Programs addressed to Arab children: among the projects included in Paltel’s penetration plan this year is launching “Yuya Land” Project which is a child-addressed, and it is the first of its kind in the Arab World. Al-Jaber said “Yuya Land Project was developed by Palestinian professionals, it provides an alternative, not only to the Palestinian child, but also to the Arab one, to the foreign programs, it will include educational materials in addition to entertainment”. He added “now the Arab child watches foreign programs that may not meet our culture. “Yuya Land” site will be the first Arab site that meets children, family and teachers’ needs, it will be a supporting element to the educational process in the various fields: mathematics, language, and other fields”. “VTel” will take responsibility for launching “Yuya Land” site in the rest of Arab countries after making some amendments to meet the peculiarities of these countries’ markets.

Launching New Satellite in the information side, Al-Jaber said: “Pal Media” Company is ready to provide all informational services for which it was established, “its first work was producing documentary films about the Arab minorities in Jerusalem”. He clarified: “Pal Media” has signed an agreement with Arab Broadcasting Stations Association to be the Association official provider with daily political, economic, and social news in Palestine. Al-Jaber also demonstrated that the year 2007 will witness the launching of the Group’s Palestinian satellite.

“HULUL” for Software enters regional markets. Hulul is considered the newest among the Group’s companies since “Paltel” has purchased the Arab Technical Software (ATS) Company, the biggest software-specialized company in Palestine. Among the most important projects it has accomplished in the last years was building up the wages system at the Ministry of Finance, the warehouses system at the Ministry of Health, companies’ registration system at the Ministry of National Economy, in addition to building up financial and administrative systems to many municipalities through The World Bank financing, registration systems at many Palestinian universities, billing and vehicle remote-watching at many big companies, such as Jerusalem Governorate Electricity Company. In addition to providing all kinds of technical support for the rest of Paltel Group companies. Al-Jaber said: Hulul “exceeded the Palestinian market to foreign markets. It implemented a technical support program for Cairo-Amman bank, and there are efforts to enter the United Arab Emirates and Saudi markets through companies in which Palestinian businessman, Mr. Sabih Al-Masri, is a shareholder”. He added “I expect that the year 2007 will witness signing a number of contracts between Hulul and foreign companies and parties to carry out projects”. 

 Investments outside Telecommunications Sector, Al-Jaber expected Paltel Group’s investment in the communication sector to be  150 million dollars this year, in addition to approximately 300 million dollars outside  communication sector between 2007-2009. He said “there are many programs being prepared to invest outside the telecommunication sector. We have established “MAISAM” Company in 2006, a company specialized in agricultural products export, and we started exporting loads of grapes, dates and vegetables”. Paltel Group, via “MAISAM”, tends to build up warehouses, raping and cooling stations in the Jordan valley, “Aghwar” area, which is rich in the exportable agricultural products. Moreover, the Group tends to build up silos for wheat and crops storage in Al-Jalameh area in the far North West bank. Al-Jaber said “this will contribute to solving the problem of the strategic wheat stock, for example, Golden Wheat Mills needs 100 thousand tones of wheat annually, whereas its storage capacity doesn’t exceed 20 thousand tones”. He added that grain silos will also contribute to solving the merchants’ problems, who have either to purchase big quantities to store them or waiting a long time until the goods arrive from Haifa Seaport, due to the complicated Israeli procedures. Among Paltel Group’s investment is launching a set of programs in accordance with its Social responsibility Program’s framework  which was established years ago in order to provide the local community with humanitarian and social aids.

Technical Collage in Gaza. Al-Jaber said Education program is among these programs providing loans to university students, Computer Program which aims at providing personal computers to the people in reasonable prices and payment facilities as part of “Paltel’s” plan to penetrate technology uses within the Palestinian society. With regard to technical penetration, Al-Jaber said: Paltel Group tends to establish a specialized collage in information technology in the location of “Naveh Dekalim” Settlement in Gaza Strip from which Israel was withdrawn in September 2005.