Fixed-line operator Palestine Telecommunications Company (PalTel)is expected to list 30 per cent of its shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market in mid-November. 'PalTel is no longer a local company. There are many potential investors from the Gulf who are worried about the political situation in Palestine but would invest if PalTel was listed on another market,' chief executive officer of PalTel Group Abdul Malik al-Jaber said on 19 October. 'We won?t list more than 30 per cent of the shares as we don?t want to create a massive shift in investment to a foreign market.'

The company has been listed on the Palestine Securities Exchange since 1997 and accounted for almost 50 per cent of its $22 million turnover in mid-October.

PalTel Group plans to focus on its internet businesses, increasing the number of asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL) in the West Bank and Gaza from 7,000 to 100,000 by the end of 2006, and wants to offer ADSL and data applications in Jordan and Kazakhstan. The company is expected to launch two websites at the end of 2005 targeted at a youth audience. Following restructuring in June 2005, PalTel Group includes Paltel and its mobile subsidiary Jawwal, internet solutions and service provider Hadaraand Pal Media, which develops internet and media content.