Market Brief for Egypt
The communication and information technology (CIT) market has grown rapidly in the last few years. The formation of a dynamic and ambitious Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) (http://www.mcit.gov.eg) in 1999 gave this sector a visible, and much-needed, boost. MCIT is determined to create an IT society and to bridge the “digital divide.” Egypt has a strong presence in the international IT scene illustrated by a substantial presence at major international trade events such as the ITU Telecom World 2003 and in the first World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), also in 2003, and lastly at Cebit, Hanover 2005. Due to the strong Government support for CIT, the abundance of IT professionals possessing strong language proficiency, and Egypt’s central location within the region, CEOs of large multinational such as Microsoft, Intel, and Oracle visited Egypt in 2004/5 and signed long term cooperation agreements with government officials.
The computer market is growing at more than 20% annually, and locally assembled PCs account for 80% of the computer market. U.S. brands have about 40% market share. Nearly all major U.S. brands are available and have local sales offices and support networks. MCIT continues to implement its ambitious plans to increase software exports. Other national objectives: train more skilled engineers, support E-government and E-commerce, and increase IT awareness among the population. A new area that has developed is the call center industry. More than 4 call centers have been inaugurated and the largest is located in the Smart Village technology park near Cairo. The call center area, with Egypt’s very low labor costs and large pool of good English speakers, has good potential with and could generate $200-300 million per year in revenues within five years.
The government of Egypt is implementing many initiatives to increase the use of computers among students. The Ministry of Education has a “Computer for Each Student” initiative, and MCIT introduced the “PC for Each Home” project that gives landline subscribers the right to purchase a PC and pay for it on an installment basis via their telephone bill. In early 2003, Egypt signed the Information Technology Agreement; accordingly, all duties and customs on IT-related products have been abolished.
The Egyptian telecommunication sector is one of the most developed in the MENA region. Telecom Egypt (TE) (http://www.telecomegypt.com.eg) , Egypt’s state telecommunications company, expects to add one million telephone landlines each year through 2007. The capacity of local public switching exchanges is 11.7 million lines. Telephone main lines in operation are 9.6 million. The Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) (http://www.tra.gov.eg) is the governmental regulatory arm for the country’s telecommunications sector. Two private sector companies Mobinil (www.mobinil.com) and Vodafone (http://www.vodafone.com) provide services for the country’s GSM 900 cellular telephone system. As of March 2005, cellular phone users numbered 8.5 million. There are 54,3461 public pay phone cabins operated by three companies. The Internet has been active since the early 1990’s, and after free Internet access was announced in January 2002, many additional Internet-related services were introduced and the number of Internet subscribers rose to 4.2 million by March 2005. The broadband initiative announced in May 2004 that also reduced the price by 50%, increased the broadband subscribers to 37,200 with a target to reach 100,000 in one year. The international bandwidth is 2 Mbps.
Telecommunications equipment and services is a best prospect sector for U.S. businesses, and account for 80 percent of Egypt’s import market. This sector will be liberalized by the end 2005, which will give the chance to new entrants to offer new technologies such as wireless networks and solutions, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Voice over IP (VoIP), and others. Egypt is looking at the possibility of a third mobile license, a second fixed operator license, and a multitude of services utilizing modern technologies. Also, an IPO for TE is contemplated this year.
On the legislative front, in June 2002 the Egyptian Parliament passed an Intellectual Property Rights Law, although some implementing regulations remain unwritten or loosely enforced. In early 2003, Egypt signed the Information Technology Agreement; accordingly, Egyptian Government abolished all duties and customs on IT-related products. The Unified Telecommunication Law passed in February 2003 regulates the different services provided by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, TE, and service providers - and protects national interests and users’ rights. E-signature law passed in the beginning of 2004.
For more information, please contact Senior Commercial Specialist Hend El Sineity, US Embassy Cairo, Hend.El-Sineity@mail.doc.gov .
Market Brief for Israel
Israel’s $12 billion Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector is a highly developed industry. Having grown from $2 billion in 1990 it now represents 14% of the country’s total GDP and 50% of its exports. Over 54,800 people work in the Israeli electronics industry, of which 64% are engineers, scientists and technicians
Israel’s telecommunications market is estimated to be around $5 billion. Since 1996 Israel’s telecommunications market has experienced a 91.8% growth in its revenues, spurred by an increasing level of cellular and Internet demand. Most of these revenues come from wireless technology and Internet services. Opportunities exist for U.S. exporters in almost all areas of the wireless and broadband industry.
Israel remains a leading magnet for hi-tech start-up investment, 103 hi-tech firms raised $238 million in the 3rd Qtr of 2003, showing that the turn-around is well underway. Israel has one of the most educated populations in the world, with 135 engineers for every 10,000 people (the U.S. ranks second with 70 per 10,000). Partnerships between U.S. and Israeli companies can lead to deals profitable to both sides.
Market Players
Israel’s impressive capabilities in the electronics & information industries has attracted a great number of international companies to establish research and development facilities and manufacturing plants in the country, or set up joint ventures with Israeli companies. These include Applied Materials, Cisco, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, National Semiconductor, HP, General Electric, Motorola, Siemens and more.
Israel’s software industry is well developed and a high percentage of the $1.8 billion import market comes from the United States. Though the global hi-tech crisis has had a negative influence on the development of existing start-ups in this industry, software ingenuity has led Israel to be listed second in the world after the United States in the number of technological start-ups. Also, Israel imports over $1 billion annually in telecommunications equipment, of which $300 million is imported from the United States. In addition, over $100 million in telecomm services are imported from the US.
Future Prospects / Opportunities
The Israeli software industry is seen as a global leader in several areas. These include defense products such as real-time applications, avionics, imaging and command/control applications. Also among the industry’s strong points is Internet-related software such as data security, IP telephony, data retrieval and navigation, authoring tools, video conferencing, video compression, distance learning and e-commerce, as well as technologies that merge data, video and voice.
Eighty percent of Israel's telecom equipment market is served by imported equipment. As the Israeli telecomm industry continues to expand and increase in revenue and with the introduction of new technologies, telecomm market offers many opportunities for U.S. exporters. Israel is recognized as a world leader in the wireless industry, maintaining an advanced cellular infrastructure employing all the latest technologies. Three out of four of Israel’s major cellular providers have either already started or plan to upgrade to a 3rd generation network. The telecomm market is extremely dynamic, with a number of advanced technologies having already arrived or being poised to enter the market soon. Some of these technologies include 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, and worldwide roaming capabilities. The continual evolution of Israel’s cutting edge telecomm market offers many opportunities for exporters of equipment, technology and services.
For more information about export opportunities please contact U.S. Commercial Specialist Sigal Mendelovich at sigal.mendelovich@mail.doc.gov
The U.S. Commercial Service in Tel Aviv, Israel, Phone: 972-3-5197491, Fax: 972-3-5107215
Market Brief for Jordan
Jordan’s telecommunications sector offers ample opportunities for U.S. companies. Investment opportunities exist in several operating units of Jordan Telecom for fixed lines. U.S. firms may also find equipment sales opportunities in Jordan’s growing mobile phone sub-sector. Jordan’s telecommunications services and equipment market grew to around $70 million in 2004 and U.S. telecommunications-related exports in 2003 totaled around $ 250-300 million. Jordan is aiming for a 50% mobile telephone penetration rate by 2013.
Jordan Telecom is the only operator of fixed lines, although the monopoly ends on December 31, 2004. A public consultation is currently underway on the licensing regime that will apply in the liberalized environment. Out of a population of 5.6 million, there are about 680,000 fixed line subscribers in Jordan, a figure, which is growing at 2-3% per year on average. Significant mobile substitution has cut into growth of the fixed line. France Telecom owns a significant minority share of Jordan Telecom and controls the firm’s day-to-day management. In addition to fixed line service, Jordan Telecom also provides mobile service (below), Internet service and content integration through wholly-owned subsidiaries. Jordan seeks investors for services currently provided on a monopoly basis by Jordan Telecom, including international bandwidth provision and international voice gateways. The country is also interested in finding investors for international call centers and the establishment of alternate links connecting Jordan with Europe and beyond. The only existing cable link is through a Flag landing in Aqaba. It should be noted that 100% foreign ownership is permitted in Jordan.
There are currently around 1.4 million mobile phone subscribers in Jordan, and experts expect this number to increase significantly over the next several years. There are currently two mobile phone operators in Jordan, MobileCom (a subsidiary of Jordan Telecom which is 40% owned by France Telecom) and Jordan Mobile Telephone Services Company - Fastlink (wholly-owned by Kuwait/UK MTC-Voda fone). A third mobile operator is expected to be announced in the summer of 2004. Jordan’s Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) has initially licensed Umniah Telecommunications Company as the Kingdom’s third mobile operator. Around 67% of Jordan’s mobile phone customers subscribe to Fastlink with the remainder subscribing to MobileCom. XPress, Jordan’s new Integrated Digital Enhancement Network Technology (iDEN)-based network (radio communication and mobile services) began operation on June 6, 2004. This network uses push-to-talk communications through one-to-one or one-to-many calls that allows group communications of up to 100 subscribers with a push of a button. In addition to ordinary mobile phone services, such as telephone connectivity, SMS, and data exchange. XPress currently has 5,000 subscribers in a niche market focused on the trucking industry and the security sector among others.
According to FY 2003 figures, Jordan has 866,000 GSM/Cellular subscribers, resulting in 16.7 GSM subscribers per 100 inhabitants, 56.6% ot total telephone subscribers are GSM subscribers. Jordan has 680,000 fixed lines subscribers, resulting in 12.76 - fixed line subscribers per 100 inhabitants. Growth of subscriber 1995-2002 is 102.9%. Total number of internet users 234,000, users per 10,000 inhabitant is 451.56, estimated number of PCs per 100 inhabitant is 3.28
The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT) is the Jordanian governmental entity responsible for articulating policy in the area of ICT, including telecommunications, post and information technology. Jordan’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) is responsible for the implementation of policy and regulation of the sector, including spectrum management, standards, and licenses. Jordan’s regulatory environment is advanced, particularly for the region. For updates about business opportunities and detailed information about the sector, U.S. companies are encouraged to visit the MoICT website and the TRC website .
For additional information, please contact, Commercial Specialist Muna Farkouh, Tel 962-6-590-6057, Fax: 962-6-590-0146, E-mail: Muna.Farkouh@mail.doc.gov
Market Brief for Lebanon
Lebanon’s market for information and communication technology (ICT) was estimated to be over $400 million in 2003, with an average annual growth of 12.5%. The service sector controls a sizeable portion of the total market. Reliable numbers for market size are therefore unavailable. Local production was estimated at $223 million in 2002. Lebanese exports reached $23 million during the same year.
Lebanon has the fundamental building blocks needed to play a regional role in technology: a skilled workforce, a strong and entrepreneurial private sector, and a computer culture connected with a host of Internet Service Providers. However, Lebanon has not developed adequate legal infrastructure to support ICT. Government investment in ICT remains weak. Telecommunication costs are high and there is no clear government strategy.
Lebanon’s ICT penetration rates are relatively high: 23% for fixed and mobile line subscribers, 7% for internet users and 7% for installed computers. Additionally, adult literacy rate is estimated at 90 percent.
Lebanon is an ideal location for establishing a regional office to cover the Levant area, including Iraq. The availability of superior and relatively cheap human resources offers the opportunity for U.S. companies to open software production facilities or outsource software development. Lebanese software developers are very good communicators, transparent and highly exposed to the outside world. The Lebanese market has been used as a platform for testing U.S. technology prior to introducing it to the rest of the Levant market. A number of U.S. companies, such as Intel and Computer Associates, have capitalized on Lebanon’s advantages to introduce their services in Lebanon and the Levant.
The U.S. Commercial Service in Beirut will organize "Made In America," the third annual trade fair promoting U.S. products and services in Lebanon in November 2005. “Made In America” will feature the goods and services of over 160 U.S. companies including Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Lucent, HP and many others. It will be an excellent opportunity for U.S companies to develop new partnerships in Lebanon and the region. For more information about “Made in America fair”, go to http://www.buyusa.gov/lebanon/en/madeinamerica.html
For additional information on the Lebanon market for information and communication technology, please contact Senior Commercial Specialist Naaman Tayyar at phone: 961-4-544860, fax: 961-4-544894, e-mail: naaman.tayyar@mail.doc.gov
Market Brief for Morocco
The Moroccan market for information and communication technology was estimated at $1,219 in 2004, with an average annual growth rate of 12% over the last three years. In February 2005, the Moroccan Government launched an international tender, which will grant licenses for local loop, for local loop with future access to 3G mobility, for long distance backbone and for international Gateway. This project alone will require new infrastructure and presents tremendous opportunities for U.S. firms. Other licenses include a mobile network, VSAT and GMPCS.
There are presently 1.2 million fixed-access lines, or a penetration rate of 4% (2003). The Moroccan Government plans to increase the fixed-line penetration rate to 4 million fixed-lines by 2010, or 51% penetration rate. With 55% of the fixed-lines concentrated in the axis of the capital cities Rabat-Casablanca, there are excellent opportunities for growth in rural areas and a large unmet demand for fixed line telecommunications, particularly for business, Internet and data services.
Morocco is ranked as one of the fastest growing mobile markets in Africa. The two mobile operators (Maroc Telecom and the Spanish-led consortium Meditel) currently serve a total of 10 million subscribers (2004), representing a 31% penetration rate. With liberalization reforms, lack of fixed-line infrastructure in remote areas and the present illiteracy rate, which defines Morocco as a country of “verbal” communication, the number of mobile users will continue to increase. The Moroccan Government aims at increasing the number of mobile subscribers to 17 million by 2010, and plans to launch a third mobile license by 2007.
Progress has been made in infrastructure development with digitalization of the networks, and ADSL Internet access. However, the Internet penetration rate remains very low (2% of users). The Moroccan Government has set itself the objective to reach 10 million Internet users by 2010 through e-learning, e-administration, e-business, e-medicine, etc. The Moroccan Internet market is expected to grow strongly in the near future, and offers excellent opportunities to U.S. firms.
Thanks to its geographical location, its highly trained ICT graduates with excellent language skills, Morocco has become a platform for establishing regional offices (IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, HP, etc.), and ranked first in the number of call centers (e.g. Dell). With the enactment of the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement, in 2005, Morocco will very soon offer a “customs competitive asset” to U.S. firms, and an increasing number of local firms start looking at purchasing directly from the U.S. U.S. equipment and services enjoy an excellent reputation among the public and private sectors.
Market Brief for Turkey
Country/Market: Turkey
Capital: Ankara
Population: 70.000.000
Languages: Turkish
Monetary Unit: Turkish Lira (TL), as of 2005 New Turkish Lira (YTL)
Exchange Rate: 1 USD = 1.37 YTL
GDP per Capita (in US$): 6,700
Local Market Commercial Specialist :
Information Technology:
Mr. Ihsan Muderrisoglu
Email: Ihsan.Muderrisoglu@mail.doc.gov
Tel: +90 312 4670949
Telecommunications:
Mr. Serdar Cetinkaya
Email: Serdar.Cetinkaya@mail.doc.gov
Tel: +90 312 4670949
Market Overview
Turkey’s Information Technology Communication market (ITC) size was $ 13.2 billion in 2004. With over 6 million personal computers in Turkey, pc sales are still the main driver for gross sales. The IT market is estimated at. $4.5 billion, this figure is expected to reach nearly $ 5.0 billion by the end of 2005.
Turkish IT Sector
New products such as ADSL modems, wireless gadgets, memory sticks and other products, especially digital cameras and camcorders have substantially increased market size and value. Cell phone add-ons such as blue tooth, data and digital music players as well as DVD players are being sold in the market at reasonable costs and financing up to 12 months, which are boosting sales.
With the effects of the economic crises decreasing and consumer confidence up, the industry is at its highest peak ever. Previous years, especially 2002-2003, IT equipment buyers remained cautious for procuring new equipment. The Government of Turkey (GOT) has also been stingy regards to new purchases in previous years, this year however there will be a significant increase in government tenders regarding IT purchases, with the launch of its major.
As anticipated with the ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) leap of Turkish Telecom, Internet speed is has increased up to 50 times versus the normal dial up used frequently by small businesses and households. This in turn boosted e-commerce and expenditure via the Internet.
ADSL’s wide planned usage is to impact on the Turkish IT market as Internet speed grows 50 times, whereby the existing copper telephone lines are to be used allowing the shift to be quick and relatively hassle free. The latest project by the Ministry of Education is to connect at 40,000 schools throughout Turkey to the Internet at a speeds of 512k using ADSL technology. Within the project there will be 650,000 email accounts issued to teachers.
Turkish Telecom expects to reach a capacity of 2 million ports and have 1 million users within 2005. ADSL’s other strategic aspect will be its role as a locomotive for the Turkish Government’s E-Government initiative. E-Government sites now operate interactively with the public and range from learning your taxes to finding out if you have any outstanding parking tickets as well as getting your passport application via the internet. Once the enhanced connection speed is demographically spread out, the next step in Turkish Telecomm plans is to include IP telephony (also known widely as Voice Over IP) to its users. Turkish Telecomm states that its national connection level will be increased 3 times in February of 2004 from 544 megabytes per second to 1.709 megabytes per second.
Since Turkish Telecomm provides the backbone for the ADSL, it does however leave the modem purchase decision to the consumer. ADSL modems sell at the moment around 100-150 USD and the expected market for the modems is estimated at 1 billion USD in the upcoming 2 years.
Cost Of ADSL Usage:
The rates announced by Turkish Telecom are priced very competitively as follows: 256 k connection at $ 30 per month / 512 k connection at $ 75 per month / 1024 k at $ 130 / 2048 k $ 200.
Turkish Telecommunications Sector:
In 2005, privatization of Turk Telekom and activities of over 40 private long distance telecom companies will play an important role in forging this market. Turkish GSM companies will widely implement new services such as push to talk and the new features by moving forward to the 3G technologies. These services and the competition introduced by the new long distance telecom companies will boost the telecommunications services market.
Turkish GSM cellular companies have obtained and continue to obtain licenses in other countries in the region. For these operations, GSM companies supply the equipment required through their contacts in Turkey. To access such markets, maintaining an excellent relationship with the headquarters of these companies in Istanbul is rather important.
GSM companies will continue their GSM switch and transmitter investments. Turkey has three GSM cellular service operators, Turkcell, Telsim, and Avea. Turkcell has over 20 million subscribers. Telsim's subscriber estimate is 6 million. Avea has approximately 4 million subscribers. Turkcell and Telsim operate at 900 MHz GSM systems. Avea operates at 1800 MHz GSM frequency. Turkcell’s shares are floated in New York Stock Exchange.
Turk Telekom is the incumbent public switch network operator with a subscriber number exceeding 19 million. The Privatization Administration on behalf of Turkish Government will privatize 55 percent of the shares of this multi billion-dollar company this year. The tender announcement has already been made and several foreign and local telecom operators/companies showed interest.
Future Prospects in this Market:
Best prospects for telecom are push to talk GSM handsets, new model GSM handsets with new features, VoIP equipment, ADSL equipment, switches and networks for long distance operators, and digital cable-TV equipment.
Best prospects in the Turkish ICT sector seems to be: wireless equipment, ADSL modems small home / business routers, network security appliances and professional software for corporations and the financial market. Digital cameras, accessories, portable data storage and cell phone accessories are also in the best prospects of the market.
The U.S. IT hardware and software manufacturer will find that due to time commitment, cost, and complexity of the regulatory and commercial environment, it would be critical to select local representation. Although many people in the larger urban commercial centers understand English language may be a serious barrier in rural areas. It is therefore imperative that marketing information and user guides be written to the consumers’ own language. To win over the local customer, a Turkish language web site would be extremely useful. Having a local representative or partner could help in translating your advertising so as to catch the eye and interest of the Turkish consumer.
For companies seeking to gauge market receptivity, exhibitions and conferences are excellent product launch vehicles. Reconfiguring the user interface and software would not be necessary in the initial market fact finding stages and that once market interest is determined and confirmed can the U.S. company and its local partner look at packaging the hardware and software to meet the needs of the Turkish consumer.
Please visit http://www.csturkey.com for details on the Turkish Market and market coverage.
Market Brief for Morocco
The Moroccan telecommunication sector is one of the most developed in Africa. To become globally competitive, the Moroccan government placed information and communication technologies in the forefront of its national socio-economic development. The telecommunications industry has seen tremendous improvements through major structural reforms, including the separation of postal activities from telecommunications activities, and establishment of regulation, control and arbitration bodies for the telecommunications sector. The sector opened to competition with the award of GMPCS and VSAT licenses and of the second GSM license.
During the years 2001-2002, the fixed-line market experienced a slight decline due to the explosion of the cellular telephony but resumed increase and posted a 2.9 % raise in 2004. Maroc Telecom http://www.iam.net.ma, which started privatisation process in 2000 with the award of 35% of its capital to the Vivendi Universal group for $2.2 billion dollars, is presently the sole fixed-line operator, and is serving 1.2 million subscribers. Although Morocco ranks second in Africa (after South Africa) and third among Arab countries (after Egypt and Saudi Arabia), there are excellent opportunities for growth in rural areas and a large unmet demand for fixed line telecommunications, particularly for business, Internet and data services with offers for high speed connections.
The upcoming license planned for the end of 2004 and entrance of a new operator is expected to help Morocco achieve its objectives of increasing the fixed-line teledensity by 10% and entering the country into the digital society, with a target of 10 million Internet users by 2010. The privatisation of the Moroccan telecommunication market and the award licenses are under the authority of the regulatory agency, Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications “ANRT” http://www.anrt.net.ma. ANRT designed the second Moroccan GSM license, awarded to the Spanish-led consortium “Meditel” [www.meditel.ma] in 1999 for $1.1 billion, which introduced the first fierce competition in the telecommunications marketplace. Under this license, Meditel ---and the incumbent operator Maroc Telecom--- had until 2003 to deploy their infrastructure before the issuance of a third GSM license. ANRT also allocates frequencies, approves telecommunications equipment imported into the country and settles disputes.
The Moroccan cellular market is one of fastest growing worldwide. Since the entrance of the second GSM operator, Meditel, the cellular growth rate has exceeded 200%. The subscriber base of the two existing mobile telephone license holders, Maroc Telecom and Meditel, has been growing fast, but there is still plenty of growth potential in the market with an existing penetration rate of the mobile telephony of 25.48%.
Current VSAT, GMPCS and mobile license holders mainly use U.S. equipment. According the DOC, “U.S. SME’s generated more than 36% of the known value of total U.S. exports to Morocco (2001), which was well above the total SME share of U.S. exports to the world (29% in 2001).” With the recent approval of the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement by both houses of Congress (July 2004), and the upcoming enactment and elimination of tariffs, U.S. companies will have excellent opportunities to offer high-tech equipment at competitive prices. As a first FTA with an African country, and the second with an Arab country, U.S. firms have exceptional opportunities to enter the African and Middle East markets through Morocco.
Morocco outlines telecommunications as the country's most strategic sector. The aim to expand the network coverage to 80% of the population, develop the teledensity, bring new technologies within education, administration and the private sector, e-commerce and government on-line offer excellent opportunities to U.S. firms to provide equipment in a wide range of areas, including but not limited to ADSL, fixed-line and mobile networks as well as solutions.
For more information, please contact Commercial Specialist Ms. Najia Tourougui, US Commercial Service, Rabat, Morocco, Najia.Tourougui@mail.doc.gov .
Market Brief for West Bank & Gaza
The Palestinian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector employs around 3,000 individuals in more than 120 companies in the West Bank and Gaza (WB/G). Almost all types of ICT companies exist like: hardware (Direct agents or PC assemblers), software development, business consulting, telecommunications, Internet service providers, and office automation equipment. Most of the ICT demand is in Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Gaza; and most of the ICT companies are located in these areas, with more presence in Ramallah. With the development of the Palestinian ICT sector, the demand for sophisticated U.S. computers and web designing is growing.
The telecommunications sector in the WB/G was privatized in 1996 when the Palestinian Authority awarded an exclusive license to Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL) to operate and develop telecommunications services. In 1998, PALTEL established the first and only Palestinian cellular phone company known as “JAWWAL.” PALTEL is the only fixed line operator in the WB/G that offers subscribers with a full range of services including local and international telephone services, access to the Internet, and payphone services. Currently, PALTEL has 260,000 fixed line subscribers and JAWWAL has more than 300,000 mobile subscribers. Both PALTEL and JAWWAL have invested over $240 million in the telecommunications sector.
PALTEL has recently introduced the Subscription-Free Internet model in an attempt to increase the number of Internet users. Internet serves as an important communication tool within the WB/G and with the outside world, and there are 15 Internet service providers within major Palestinian population centers. Today, an estimated 340,000 people use the Internet in the WB/G, representing approximately 9.2% of the population. Around 500,000 Palestinians should have access to, and use the Internet within the next few years, to achieve business-to-business and e-commerce benefits for the Palestinian economy. The Palestinian country code on the Internet “.ps” was officially launched in April 2005 and it is estimated that 5,000 Palestinian websites are registered under this Internet domain.
Most of the computer hardware companies import directly from international vendors. Exports are limited to software, R&D, and outsourcing services. Some software companies already have outsourcing and developing projects for regional and international companies. Other companies depend solely on their international clients.
The Palestinian ICT sector is represented by PITA, the Palestinian IT Association of Companies. Established in Ramallah in 1998 as a membership-based non-for-profit organization, PITA seeks to serve its members and develop the Palestinian ICT sector thorough quality services and positive partnership with the government. With its 70 full members, representing 60% of the ICT sector, PITA has been very active in major sector-related issues like: Internet dissemination, telecom regulation, high-tech parks, university curriculum upgrade, and the ".ps" country domain registration.
For additional information on the Palestinian market for information and communication technology, please contact Commercial Specialist Assad Barsoum at phone: 972-2-625-4742, fax: 972-2-623-5132 or e-mail: Assad.Barsoum@mail.doc.gov