How long must Palestine wait for 4G?

 

The World Bank recently has called on Israel to allow Palestinians to upgrade their mobile network, saying the potential of the digital economy in the occupied Palestinian territories is not being fully realized.

According to the global ICT Development Index, the West Bank and Gaza are placed below the developing country average in broadband penetration rate. The World Bank report calls on Israeli authorities to allocate the spectrum needed for Palestinian 4G and 5G deployments before 5G deployments are completed in Israel.

Israel is currently upgrading its telecommunications system from a 4G to a 5G network, and are ensuring their illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank are also being upgraded. While Palestinians in Gaza use mostly a 2G system and a 3G one in the West Bank. Israeli restrictions are “among the key impediments to development of the digital economy in the West Bank and Gaza,” says the report.

It highlights a two-tiered system in which Israel is preparing to upgrade its telecommunications system from a 4G to 5G network, while Palestinians in Gaza use mostly a 2G system and a 3G one in the West Bank. The latter was made available to Palestinians only in 2018.

According to the World Bank Israel has “decision-making power over the frequency spectrum, and so far has refused to allocate the necessary spectrum to Palestinian telecom operators to deploy 4G frequencies.

It also has restricted the import of telecommunications equipment and access to infrastructure and transmission sites. Bandwidth is set and sold by Israel, the report noted, adding that Palestinian telecommunication companies are charged a higher price than their Israeli competitors.

The report concludes the Palestinian telecommunication companies can not be competitive with their Israeli counterparts, the adding that these companies are forced to offer more limited services at higher prices.

Those Palestinians who live within range of Israeli 4G systems are more likely to purchase plans through those Israeli companies rather than their now national ones. However  Palestinians who live in rural areas and who rely solely on their cellphones for internet access suffer the most from the limited web capacity.

As a result of all these restrictions, the report said, the “West Bank and Gaza is placed below the developing country average in broadband penetration rate” according to the global Information and Communications Technology Development Index.

The two Palestinian mobile phone providers Ooredoo and Jawwal say that between them, they have close to four million customers. Analysts explain that when the 4G service arrives, it will lower prices.

Ishaq Seder, the Palestinian Authority’s telecommunications and information technology minister, told The Media Line that providing the Palestinian people with 4G and 5G networks was extremely important and top of the ministry’s priority list.

“It is important for developing work in the fields of information technology, electronic commerce and a variety of other fields, as these networks are tied to several issues related to digital development,” Seder said. He added that the ministry’s goal was to establish multiple services in landline and digital communications.

He confirmed that there was no specific timetable for implementation but said huge efforts were being made to achieve it as soon as possible. 

Seder highlighted the equipment intended for Palestinians that is being held in Israeli ports, and how Israeli telecommunication companies were exploiting their monopoly on 4G service to attract Palestinian consumers. An estimated 400,000 Israeli SIM cards are being used by Palestinians in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials are demand more frequencies to allow a third telecom operator to join Jawwal and Wataniya.

Related Posts:

• Operator Watch Blog - Palestine: 3G finally....
• Operator Watch Blog: 5G in Israel ... still coming soon
• Operator Watch Blog: Israel to auction 5G spectrum this year and launch 5G in 2020 

5G in Israel ... still coming soon

Israel has a highly developed economy and one of its major sectors revolves around high technology products, primarily used in the medical, biotechnology, agricultural, materials and military industries. Israel also attracts investment in its cyber-security industry and has established itself as a hub for thousands of start-up companies.

To underpin these advanced developments; Israel is developing a robust telecoms sector. It has a high household internet penetration rate, almost all of which are broadband connections and fibre-network deployment is well underway, led by the Israel Broadband Company (IBC).

When we last wrote about Israel back in 2019, we were expecting 5G to be available by now. Coverage of 4G in Israel is significant and the regulator is forging ahead with a planned auction of 5G spectrum. The regulator has offered financial incentives to encourage operators to participate. The operators have also seen a flurry of merger and acquisition activity over the last 6 or so months.

Israel has five main network operators: Cellcom, Partner (formerly Orange), Pelephone, Golan Telecom and HOT Mobile.

2G and 3G: GSM is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G is on 2100 MHz like in most of Europe with additional 850/900 MHZ. Most of the country is covered aside from parts in the unsettled north of the desert in the south, but mostly there is full coverage of the country. 4G/LTE: LTE works in most big cities on 1800 MHz (band 3) and there are plans to add 2600 MHz (band 7) to all networks in the future.



Cellcom is one of the historical providers. Shops and reloads can be found everywhere. They still have the most customers in the country on their network. Cellcom's prepaid plan is called "TalkMan" and referred as the generic word for prepaid cards in Israel.

The Israeli Ministry of Communications have accepted Cellcom’s request that Golan Telecom will merge with Cellcom but remain a virtual carrier and an active player in the market under Cellcom's wing.

The merged company will be the largest in Israel's mobile market, with some 3.6 million subscribers, a clear lead over the number two, Partner, which was not far behind Cellcom’s 2.7 million before the merger. It was in February 2020 that Cellcom announced that it would buy Golan Telecom at a valuation of about $216.3 million at current exchange rates.



Partner, formerly known as Orange, is another historical provider. They are owned by local Partner Communications, who used the Orange brand under license until 2016, but have rebranded getting rid of the orange color.

Partner is the second-largest mobile operator, and has been reported to be paying together with HOT Mobile, 62.3 million shekels for its frequencies. Partner operates a joint radio network with HOT, a subsidiary of telecoms and cable group Altice Europe.



Pelephone is the oldest operator in Israel, founded in 1986. It was a CDMA only network from 1998 until 2009 when it became a GSM compatible 3G/4G network, that means that only GSM phones supporting 3G on 850 and 2100 MHz or 4G/LTE on 1800 MHz can use it. Today it is the only network without 2G coverage in Israel since the 2G CDMA network has been shut down in July 2017.

HOT Mobile together with Golan Telecom (another operator which is hard to use for foreigners) started a "mobile revolution" in Israel in 2012. They are 3G and 4G-only networks, but there is a national network sharing agreement with Partner, so you get full coverage including 2G fallback. You may need to enable data roaming on your phone to get stable internet connection all over Israel, without surcharges. 2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz on Partner network, 3G on 900 MHz (through Partner) and on 2100 MHz (own network). 4G/LTE started recently on own 1800 MHz network.

Golan Telecom started offering own prepaid plans under the brand GolanTalk from June 2018.
Golan Telecom has now been sold to rival Cellcom. So it can be expected that Golan Telecom will be merged to the Cellcom network soon.

In their first operator-level outlook on the Israeli mobile market, Open Signal found no single dominant operator across the mobile network experience metrics. Four of the awards — Video Experience, Games Experience, Voice App Experience and Download Speed Experience — resulted in a tie between two or three operators, while the three clear wins — Upload Speed Experience, 4G Availability, 4G Coverage Experience — were achieved by three different operators.

Partner appeared to be the best-placed operator in our award table with four draws and one clear win, but Pelephone and Hot Mobile also won one metric each and drew in another two. Golan Telecom drew in Voice App Experience — the only three-way draw — while Cellcom was the only operator which did not win or draw for any of the awards.

Israel to auction 5G spectrum this year and launch 5G in 2020

According to ITU Measuring the Information Society Report 2017, Israel has a vibrant and competitive mobile market. The privatization of incumbent operator Bezeq (now operating under the brand name Pelephone) started in 1991, followed by the opening of the mobile market to a second operator (Cellcom) in 1994. At the end of 2016, five mobile network operators and a number of MVNOs competed in the mobile market. These include MNOs Partner Communications, Hot Mobile, and Golan Telecom. The latter two entered the market in 2012 and are both owned by transnational French telecommunication groups. With their low-priced offers, they have been able to gain significant market shares and intensified competition between the operators. Mobile-broadband penetration is increasing, and above the European average. Operators continue to invest in 3G and LTE networks and 3G population coverage is almost complete.

A new mobile operator we4G was launched on April 10, 2018. According to Telegeography, Israel has a new mobile network operator in the form of 018 Xfone, which has launched services under the ‘We4G’ brand. The network went live today (10 April), and reportedly leverages network sharing agreements with incumbent cellcos Cellcom and Golan Telecom. According to a previous report by local news site Globes, the newcomer will be using the ‘051’ prefix previously assigned to Pelephone. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, 018 Xfone is a subsidiary of Marathon Telecom, which is itself controlled by Israeli businessman Hezi Bezalel. In January 2015 the telco agreed to pay a total of ILS33 million for a 5MHz block of spectrum in the 1800MHz band, and went on to receive the frequencies in August that year.

According to a report by Reuters regarding 5G:

Israel’s telecoms regulator unveiled plans on Thursday to publish a tender for fifth generation (5G) mobile networks in the first half of 2019, at a time when fierce competition has slashed profitability at local operators.

The Communications Ministry expects the tender in April or May, with the hope frequencies can be allocated by the end of 2019 and 5G can be launched between 2020 and 2023, the ministry’s director-general, Netanel Cohen, said.

He estimated a 5G network - which would be an additional layer on existing 4G networks - would cost around 2 billion shekels ($529 million).

The cost, though, may be too steep for operators, which are struggling to remain profitable in a country with 8.9 million people and nine mobile providers.

He said only the six main mobile operators would be eligible to bid for 5G licences, leaving out the three virtual operators. Since there are only three networks in Israel - owned by Cellcom , Partner Communications and Bezeq unit Pelephone - companies will be encouraged to join forces and bid together.

Raz-Dror said operators would not be required to deploy 5G in all of the country but would have to move away from 3G and improve 4G networks.

Palestine: 3G finally....

Picture Source: QZ

Palestinians in the West Bank were finally allowed high-speed 3G mobile data services at the beginning of this year. In world where fourth generation of mobile technology is available in even the most remote areas – from the peak of Mount Everest to the islands of the South China Sea – Israeli restrictions have until now forced Palestinians to settle for outdated second-generation technology. And their economy reflects it.

The only two Palestinian cellular providers Jawwal (owned by Palestine Telecommunications/PalTel)  and Wataniya Mobile (a subsidiary of Ooredoo) launched 3G mobile networks for customers in the Israeli-occupied territory at end of January 2018. Both these operators have to license their wireless spectrum from the Israeli government and route their traffic through Israel. And while Israel’s government granted 4G licenses to six Israeli mobile operators in 2015, Palestinians have remained stuck two generations behind.

Israel, where 3G networks went into service in 2004, had previously blocked Palestinian mobile companies' access to the necessary frequencies for nearly 12 years. In November 2015, it agreed to allow 3G in the West Bank alone and not in Gaza, however this was further delayed for unknown reasons.

Israel’s reasons for keeping Palestine on 2G up to now are not entirely known, however it is speculated that less-secure 2G networks are easier for the Israeli authorities to monitor—or at least to monitor without detection. They can eavesdrop (or potentially mass send everyone their own text messages, as evidenced in the Israeli assault of 2014) on traffic coming over Israeli companies' networks. 

To continue that level of surveillance on an upgraded 3G network run by Palestinian companies, Israel will have to either ensure that it can continue to tap into the network backbone those companies use, or use more detectable active surveillance technology like IMSI catchers. Active surveillance would be detectable: it would also be a violation of the Oslo accords, which declare that both sides “shall refrain from any action that interferes with the communication and broadcasting systems and infrastructures of the other side.”

But there could also be commercial reasons for delaying 3G. Palestinians often opine that one less visible economic aspect of Israeli occupation means that the 4 million strong Palestinian population living under Israeli control in the West Bank and Gaza is often used as a lucrative market for Israeli goods and services, to the detriment of Palestine’s own economy. One feature of Israel’s control is its stranglehold on the mobile market.

According to Ammar Al Aker, Palestine Telecommunication’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the number of Israeli SIM cards (which are deemed illegal to sell or purchase in the West Bank and Gaza) have recently spiked. Al Aker said that before 2015, the number of Israeli SIM cards in the West Bank was estimated at 150,000, but in 2015 the number rose to 370,000 cards.Israeli SIM cards allow the residents of the West Bank to enjoy 3G coverage, whereas the Palestinian operators were restricted to 2G and effectively forced out of the market.

Israeli cellphone companies have extensive coverage in the West Bank, where they’ve been able to put cellphone towers in Israeli settlements—locations that, in the West Bank’s rugged topography, are prized because they’re typically on hilltops. As a result, they have better coverage in many places than Jawwal and Wataniya, as well as offering 3G or 4G:

Israel also keeps Jawwal and Wataniya in a chokehold in another way, by licensing far less spectrum to them than to Israeli firms. In the 2015 4G auction, Israeli companies bid on a total of 65 MHz of spectrum (on top of what they already had in 3G), to serve Israel’s population of 8 million people. Jawwal and Wataniya together have less than 10MHz, for a population slightly more than half that of Israel’s. Tight spectrum means slower connection speeds and more dropped calls.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that by one estimate, Israeli operators have 20%-40% of the Palestinian market, costing the Palestinian providers $80 million to $100 million a year in potential business. The World Bank, in a 2016 report, estimated that Palestinian cellular companies lost between $436 million (£308 million) and $1.5 billion in potential revenue in 2013 to 2015 due to Israeli restrictions on frequencies and equipment imports, and unauthorized competition by Israeli operators. 

And so there may well have been some pressure on the government to let the Israeli companies—which are also in such fierce competition with each other that not all of them are expected to survive—maintain their edge.

Israeli operators, which include Orange, Cellcom and Pelephone, provide telecoms services to illegal settlements within the West Bank, enabling them to offer coverage throughout the territory.

"As I speak to you in my office, I get coverage from all of the Israeli operators,” said Mr Aker. “We have to compete with Israeli operators, they cover West Bank with much more advanced technology.”

Jawwal is owned by the local Paltel Group and the leading provider in the Palestine Territories including Gaza with more than 2.5 million customers and a market share of more than 80%. In 1999, Israel licensed access to 4.8 MHz in the 900 MHz band to Jawwal, they still retain the same access, but for more than 2.5 million subscribers compared to only 120,000 in 1999.

Five gigabytes of data from Jawwal costs about $30, compared to $5 in Jordan and less than $4 in Israel. Many Palestinians will still use illegal Israeli 3G services because of the cheaper prices. However despite its elevated cost, Ammar Al Aker still believes that the 3G service will help “improve Palestinian citizens’ lives and develop the economy.” To this end, he confirmed that the Jawwal network is “powerful and widespread” and that in order to serve the largest number of users the company has installed 1,000 cellular towers in the West Bank.

Wataniya Mobile of the Kuwait-based and Qatar-owned Ooredoo Group. It started as the second mobile operator in 2009 in the West Bank. In 2017 it extended its area of operation to the Gaza Strip. Wataniya is now at the break-even point, but that it once suffered losses of as much as $20 million a year, it has only stayed afloat due to its main investors Ooredoo and the self-rule governments Palestinian Investment Fund.

The economy of the West Bank should significantly benefit from the new 3G services. Smaller Palestinian entrepreneurs also expect an immediate 3G bump in business.

For ordinary Palestinians, everyday life will get just a little easier.

Alaa Amouri, 20, a student, said she gets 4G from an Israeli provider that offers only partial coverage in the West Bank. Mobile data from a Palestinian provider would offer real-time updates on potential trouble on the roads, said Amouri, who commutes between east Jerusalem and her West Bank university, passing through the crowded Israeli-run Qalandiya crossing almost daily. It (3G) helps in getting news updates, she said. Sometimes when we are at the Qalandiya crossing, we find it blocked without knowing why.

However due to continuing security concerns, neither Palestinian operator is permitted by the Israeli government to extend their 3G coverage to the Gaza Strip. Considering the continued blockade it is unlikely this will change any time soon. 

Similarly 4G technology will probably not be deployed in Palestine until the rest of the world as moved onto 5G. 

As mentioned in this report Palestinians could consider initiatives at the local level without waiting for external actors. More specifically, each Palestinian municipality could make sure that areas under its control are well connected by ensuring the installation of fiber backbone and microwave links. Municipalities can also add solar power panels onto their street lighting poles as well as a wireless network to ensure citywide Wi-Fi. In addition, mesh wireless networks, which are not dependent on centrally-located towers and can bypass obstacles like hills, are a promising new avenue for municipalities. Indeed, local companies proposed a study for Ramallah modeled on Brazilian and US cities using street lighting poles but were not able to secure the funding. Such local-level projects should ideally be undertaken within a clear overall vision and strategy.

This is a complicated part of the world, ultimately political solutions are needed. However the status quo of technologically disadvantaging, and economically hindering Palestine is just another obstacle to peace.