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December 17, 1999
Deeds, not Words
Three years ago PalTel took on the responsibility for the telecommunications sector in Palestine. The waiting time to get connected to telephone service was about 10 years, nowadays it does not exceed 48 hours.
At that time, about 2.5 telephone lines were available per 100 inhabitants, and the network was totally connected with the Israeli network. A few old exchanges were scattered as patchy networks at some areas in Palestine, all of them connected to the Israeli network. The quality of the service was below any standards. With PalTel's dedicated efforts and the utilization of state-of-the-art technologies we managed to initiate a unique telecommunications sector in Palestine with more than 212,000 subscribers.
Nowadays there are about 8 lines per 100 inhabitants, utilizing a telecom system consisting of more than 100 digital exchanges and a network entirely of fiber optic cables, considered the latest technology in the telecom industry. Telephony services have thus far been brought to about 350 rural areas at a high cost, but relatively low returns. PalTel has established a very advanced data communication system, which can provide high quality services to Internet users and other Value Added Services customers.
Recently, PalTel was the first Telecommunications Company in the region to be awarded the ISO 9002 Certification. We continue to concentrate on infrastructure-building and manpower development. As a public company, we have two challenges: Providing very high qualitative services to our customers at reasonable prices and surviving under tough circumstances, as we endeavor to build our network in area C despite Israeli barriers.
Compared with the surrounding Arab countries PalTel's prices are considered the most reasonable. Since PalTel was given the responsibility, local and international call prices have been significantly reduced, in coordination with The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MoPT), which is the regulatory body for the telecommunications sector and is the only approving party for telecom service tariffs in Palestine.
We would like to stress that PalTel's first and foremost concern is customer satisfaction. We are always open to any objective comments, suggestions or criticism aimed at helping us tackle the best measures to offer the best services.
Suleiman Mashriqi
Marketing Director
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