Palestinian mobile firm in political firestorm delays launch - again

Israeli leaders have highlighted loosened security restrictions, an economic growth rate of seven percent, and the construction of state-of-the art shopping malls and cinemas in the West Bank as an indication of what Gaza residents could enjoy - if only its Hamas rulers chose to abandon terrorism.

But the struggles of a multi-national cellular company elucidate the political roadblocks still stifling businesses in the West Bank. On Oct. 15, Wataniya Mobile once again did not launch as planned because it has not received its promised 4.8 MHz of airwave frequency spectrum.

Wataniya hoped to launch last April, but unwittingly became a political pawn in clashes between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Tensions piqued last week when the government, which controls the airwaves in the Palestinian territories, threatened to withhold Wataniya's spectrum indefinitely unless the PA dropped its demand for Israel Defense Forces officers to be tried at the International Criminal Court. This followed the publication of the controversial Goldstone report, which accuses both Israel and Hamas militants of war crimes during the December-January hostilities in Gaza.

" nothing to do with the Goldstone report - nothing at all," said Allan Richardson, the Scottish CEO of Wataniya. "We've been trying for two and a half years to get this spectrum... We're just trying to build a network that's competitive and gives the Palestinian people a choice. That's it."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1121637.html