According to Art. 3 of the Instructions No. 1 of 2017 for Telecommunications Equipment Obtaining Type Approval, any entity wishing to obtain type approval for communications equipment must follow a formal application procedure. First-time applicants must submit a type-approval application using the Ministry’s prescribed form and attach, at a minimum, the following:
(i) Detailed technical data and catalogues for the equipment, including its connection specifications with public communications networks, in Arabic and English; where Arabic is unavailable, English alone is acceptable.
(ii) A manufacturer’s Declaration of Conformity confirming that the equipment complies with ITU, ETSI or FCC specifications, signed by the manufacturer and, where the applicant is a supplier, also by the supplier. The Ministry may also request a copy of the technical inspection report supporting this declaration.
(iii) An approved report on the laboratory tests conducted on the equipment and their results, indicating at least:
- the names and addresses of the testing laboratories, the countries that accredit them, and the dates of the tests;
- compliance with safety requirements;
- electromagnetic compatibility and interference, including EMC, EMI and RF tests;
- relevant health standards; and
- the specific absorption rate (SAR).
(iv) Copies of catalogues showing the technical specifications of the equipment (in Arabic or English).
In addition, it is reported that the appointment of a local representative is not required for this procedure and that, as a general rule, no physical sample of the equipment is required for the type-approval assessment.

According to Art. 8.2 of Decree No. 10 of 2018 on Cybercrime, any person who unlawfully uses personal encryption elements is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and/or a fine ranging from JOD 1,000 to JOD 3,000 (approx. USD 1,500 to 4,500), or the equivalent in the lawful currency in circulation. It is reported that, due to the lack of specificity as to what constitutes “unlawful” use and the severity of the penalties under Art. 8, this provision is constrains the use of encryption systems in the country.

The State of Palestine does not implement any de minimis threshold, which is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Palestine's law and jurisprudence.

According to Art. 2 of the Instructions No. 1 of 2009 on the Registration of the Data of Subscribers to Cellular Telecommunications Services, all licensees providing cellular telecommunications services are required to register a minimum set of subscriber data for mobile services and obtain a copy of the subscriber’s personal identification document. The minimum data to be recorded comprise the subscriber’s full name, national identification card or passport number, place of residence and work, and date and place of birth.

Palestine lacks a comprehensive regime for the protection of trade secrets.

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.

The State of Palestine has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments. In fact, the country is not a member of the WTO.

The country has a telecommunications authority: the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). However, it is reported that the decision making process of this entity is not fully independent from the government.

The State of Palestine has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

The State of Palestine does not have a comprehensive regime of data protection in place.

According to Art. 31 of Decree No. 10 of 2018 on Cybercrime, a service provider – defined as any person who enables users to communicate by means of information technology or who processes, stores or hosts computer data on behalf of an information service provider or its users – must retain subscriber information for a period of not less than three years.
Under Art. 1 of the Decree, “subscriber information” includes all information held by the service provider relating to service subscribers, such as the type of communications service used, technical requirements, duration of the service, the subscriber’s identity, postal or geographical address or telephone number, payment information available under the service or installation agreement, and any other information concerning the location of the communication equipment based on that agreement.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability for copyright infringement is absent in Palestine's law and jurisprudence.