The company won a licence to provide 3G mobile internet services as well as voice services and texting in December 2006.

The Israeli government controls the allocation of telecoms frequencies in Israel and the Occupied Territories. However, Israel’s Communications Ministry only provided Wataniya Palestine with its 2G spectrum in late July (MEED 30:7:08).

A Communications Ministry spokeswoman declined to say why 3G spectrum was excluded.

“All we are getting is 2G. Why is there no 3G included?” says Allan Richardson, the company’s chief executive officer. “In the Palestinian market, the biggest problem is the lack of internet connectivity.”