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Sabeih Al Masri is looking forward to the completion of ZAIN-PALTEL deal before the end of the week

2009-04-01

Sabeih Al Masri the chairman of Palestine Telecommunications said that the negotiations with the Palestinian National Authority to obtain approval on the deal are going well, and an agreement was reached on the framework of the transaction and related matters with the exception of one item, stressing that the prevailing positive spirit would inevitably lead to the agreement. Al Masri pointed out that the deal is of importance to the national economy and constitute a strong impetus to the efforts of the Authority and to prove its credibility in its efforts to promote investment infrastructure. Al Masri stressed out that this deal is as a certificate of distinction of the Palestinian private sector and to prove its resilience of success, and permission to the entry of Arab investors to the Palestinian market. He thanked the President Mahmoud Abbas for his support, as well as thanked Dr. Salam Fayyad the Prime Minister to his intensive efforts over the past few weeks and devotes long hours of his valuable time to find a proper ground to reach agreement. Al Masri assured that the company has always welcomed competition and believed that the subscriber is the situation master who will decide the service provider, and the company has built its strategy from the outset on this basis, to the fact that the Palestinian market is open to four giant corporations operate for years without any censorship, so JAWWAL was never single in the Palestinian market. He added " as we have more than one occasion assured that the entrance of the second operator in the Palestinian market carries a promise of a positive trend that we have supported since the first day, we have offered all the support and backing to the second operator by giving them fiber-optic services and at competitive prices. And on the item, which is expected to be consensus around, Al Masri noted that the Authority seeks to separate the company"s fixed telecommunications company among JAWWAL in terms of administration and financially,  and this is the current reality, as both JAWWAL and Fixed Telecommunications is an administratively independent and financially. We put forward proposals to the authority on this item and therefore we affirm our desire for fair competition and honest and allow everyone to work to the same conditions, so we suggested to apply the model in place in Britain and France or any other country chosen by the Authority, which confirms our desire in the presence of an orderly market working under the umbrella of the Palestinian National Authority, and where everyone enjoys the same privileges and conditions. He stressed out that the company and the authority agreed on the importance of liberalization of the market and create conditions for fair competition , and that makes him sure that there will be agreement on the appropriate wording for this item to achieve the desired goal.