Mr. Sabih Masri, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Paltel, announced that Paltel delivers very strong results during the first half of the year due to the tremendous efforts Board and administration are paying to meet highly competitive market needs. Masri added that Paltel is operating in one of the most dynamic telecom markets in the region, an environment that encourages competition and brings new growth opportunities through the launch of advanced value-added services. He further added that using sophisticated solutions that are based on open architecture and open standards, we believe, will help us be poised to reap the benefits of convergence and offer the most innovative services to our customers.

Masri said that Jawwal is not the only cellular phones company that operates in Palestine. There are in addition four other Israeli companies working illegally. Jawwal is the only licensed company that abides by the Palestinian rules and regulations; imposing unfair competition within the Palestinian mobile telecommunications market by illegally marketing tax-free unlicensed Israeli services while denying Palestinian reciprocation is not accepted.

Mr. Masri elaborated that he understands what Dr. Azmi Shua’ibi, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, declarations and thanked him for his efforts to solve the problem and reach a settlement. He added that the telecommunication sector in Palestine is facing many obstacles of lack of direct access to the international network and the unavailability of frequency spectrums; however the company is constantly developing its infrastructure and investment in upgrading the qualifications of its cadre.

Paltel and Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology major achievement and a non precedent one in the middle east of turning Palestine into one single area code with no domestic calls charges within the different governorates.

Subscription fees are reduced and free-of-charge time calling increased to 150 minutes. Jawwal also reduced calls to Jordan Fast-Link Company by 20%. Costs of phone calls in Palestine are considered the cheapest in the Middle East area.

Masri said that the Paltel team consists of highly qualified cadre who work efficiently. Masri also noted that Ministry’s efforts to regulate the telecom and information technology sector in Palestine are appreciated. He added that the consolidated net profit for the first half of 2005 is JD 29 million compared to JD 14 million last year.