There is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in the country to deliver telecom services to end-users, and it is not practised in the mobile sector or in the fixed sector, based on commercial agreements.

The government holds shareholdings in certain telecommunications operators. In particular, the State owns 31.7% of Ooredoo Palestine through the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) and approximately 7% of the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL), also through the PIF.

According to Art. 8(e)(4) of Instructions No. 1 of 2011 Regarding Protection of Competition in the Telecommunications Sector, the Regulator may require a dominant licensee to implement accounting separation in order to assess potential cross-subsidisation and to help identify other forms of anti-competitive conduct. Art. 8(1) of the Instructions sets out the procedure for determining whether an operator holds a dominant position. It is reported that the government is preparing regulations to operationalise regulatory accounting separation. Furthermore, it is also reported that functional separation is required by law; however, the specific legislative instrument establishing this obligation could not be identified in publicly available sources.

According to Art. 24 of the Public Procurement Law, the procuring entity, the General Supplies Department or the Central Tenders Department can only apply the international bidding method in the following cases:
(i) where the procurement is of a special or complex nature, as determined by the procuring entity;
(ii) where the required supplies, works or services are not available locally at competitive prices and with the required quality; or
(iii) where no bids have been submitted by local bidders after all procurement methods permitted by law have been exhausted.

According to Art. 8 of the Public Procurement Law, the Council for Public Procurement Policies must give preference to local Palestinian products, contractors and consultants, and apply a preference margin for Palestinian producers and contractors when evaluating bids in international tenders. Annex (B) of Cabinet Decision No. (5) of 2014 on Public Procurement Regulations further provides that, for works contracts, procuring entities must grant a 7.5% margin of preference to domestic contractors, subject to specified conditions. Contractors seeking this preference are required to submit qualification data, including ownership information, to enable verification of their status as “domestic contractors” under the relevant classification.

It is reported that, although the public procurement law entered into force in 2014, it remains at a relatively early stage of implementation, and concerns persist regarding its integrity and transparency safeguards. The High Council for Public Procurement Policy reportedly continues to face challenges, including frequent requests from certain entities for exemptions to conduct direct procurement. Decisions of the Council of Ministers on tenders are also not systematically communicated to the High Council, hindering the consolidation of procurement data on the designated portal and delaying the implementation of an e-procurement strategy. Moreover, many government contracts involving the use of public resources, such as telecommunications, are reportedly not awarded through competitive tenders, and the resulting contracts with private operators have not been published.

The State of Palestine is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). In fact, the country is not a member of the WTO.

The State of Palestine is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II). In fact, the country is not a member of the WTO.

It is reported that Qatar permits self-certification for radio transmission equipment concerning electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) standards. Foreign manufacturers may demonstrate compliance through a Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC), whereby the supplier or manufacturer affirms that the equipment satisfies the relevant technical and administrative requirements. Where testing is undertaken, the choice of laboratory remains at the discretion of the supplier or manufacturer. The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) accepts results issued by accredited testing and measurement bodies officially recognised by the Authority, a list of which is published on its website.

According to Qatar's eCommerce Portal, enterprises seeking to operate as e-merchants in Qatar must first register their business, domain name and trademarks. To engage in commercial activities within the country, all businesses, including e-merchants, are required to obtain a commercial registration.

The de minimis threshold, defined as the minimum value of goods below which customs duties are not levied, is SAR 1,000; however, its application is limited to business-to-consumer transactions and does not extend to business-to-business consignments. The threshold is specified in the "Unified Guide for Customs Procedures at First Points of Entry in the GCC Member States", which states that parcels and personal shipments with a declared value not exceeding SAR 1,000 are exempt from customs duties (this value is approximately equal to QAR 970 or USD 265).

Chapter 8 of the Electronic Commerce and Transactions Law establishes a comprehensive legal framework for consumer protection, expressly applicable to online transactions.

Qatar has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.