Orange Jordan and Wataniya Palestine sign strategic agreement

Orange Jordan and recently-launched mobile operator Wataniya Palestine, have signed a strategic agreement that will allow their customers to call, receive and roam between Jordan and Palestine for only 12 piasters/85 agoras (US$0.17) per minute.

The two companies had been in talks over the deal for the past two years. Wataniya received its licence in September 2006 but was delayed in launching its operations earlier than last year because of challenges in receiving its required spectrum.

“The agreement is an alliance with lucrative economic return for all the parties involved and represents a high level of cooperation between the two operators, capitalising on the experience and close ties between the two closely related markets,” Orange Jordan CEO Nayla Khawam said in a statement.

Wataniya started operations at the end of October 2009 and has already accumulated 120,000 subscribers, and is aiming for 400,000 by the end of 2010. Orange Mobile has a customer base of more than two million.

The Palestinian operator is 40 per cent owned by Wataniya International, a subsidiary of  Qtel Group, with 30 per cent held by the Palestine Investment Fund and a further 30 per cent owned by the general public through an IPO.

This deal comes after the failure of Zain Jordan and Paltel to ratify a merger deal. In May, Zain Group and Paltel signed an agreement for a share-for-share exchange, which would have seen Zain take a majority interest in Paltel with an equity shareholding of 56.53 per cent, in exchange for Paltel owning 100 per cent of Zain Jordan. However, the companies did not receive the required government approvals to complete the deal and confirmed in late November that the planned merger would not eventuate.

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