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Cellcom (Israel)

Coordinates: 32°17′25″N 34°51′46″E / 32.29028°N 34.86278°E / 32.29028; 34.86278
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Cellcom Israel Ltd.
סלקום ישראל בע"מ
Company typePublic
TASE: CEL
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded1994; 30 years ago (1994)
FounderDov Tadmor
Headquarters32°17′25″N 34°51′46″E / 32.29028°N 34.86278°E / 32.29028; 34.86278,
Netanya
,
Israel
Area served
Israel
Key people
ProductsGSM, GPRS, UMTS, HSDPA, LTE
Revenue
  • Decrease₪1,029 million (2016)[1]
  • ₪1,040 million (2015)
  • Increase₪140 million (2016)
  • ₪80 million (2015)
  • Increase₪44 million (2016)
  • ₪12 million (2015)
OwnerDIC (41.77%), public (58.23%)
Number of employees
3600
Websitecellcom.co.il
Cellcom-branded GSM/GPRS CompactFlash card wireless modem (ca. 2007)

Cellcom (Hebrew: סלקום) (TASE: CEL) is an Israeli telecommunications company.[2] Founded in 1994, most of the company's business is centered on wireless service. Its current CEO is Eli Adadi[3]. As of June 2016, Cellcom had 2.812 million subscribers.[1]

The company is traded in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the symbol CEL, and is part of the Tel Aviv 35 Index.[4]

History

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Cellcom's entry into the Israeli market caused a revolution in wireless services in the country, as it offered service at rates which were a fraction of those charged by Pelephone, which until Cellcom's launch held a monopoly on cellular services in Israel. Its launch was not without problems though and during 1995, Cellcom subscribers experienced widespread service disruptions of unknown origin. After an intensive investigation, the cause was finally traced to a software bug in Motorola's MicroTAC Alpha handsets – which were ubiquitous on its network at the time.[5]

Network

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Cellcom operates 5G network (shared with Golan Telecom, WeCom, Walla Mobile), along with OTT service called Cellcom TV, IPTel landline service, international dialing service (013), and acts as one of the billing agencies for electrical power in Israel.

Cellcom initially operated a TDMA network nationwide in the 850 MHz band, but after winning tenders for GSM-1800 frequencies it began offering GSM services, and eventually sought to replace the 850 MHz TDMA frequencies it owns with standard 900 MHz GSM frequencies, but Pelephone and Partner petitioned the Ministry of Communications to deny this for technical reasons. This put Cellcom at a disadvantage since, though most of its users had converted to GSM, they were not able to make use of the lower frequency's better in-building penetration and greater cell reach.[citation needed]

With its entry into 3G wireless services, Cellcom demonstrated the first mobile video call in Israel.[6] Since the beginning of 2006, Cellcom has been deploying a 3G UMTS-2100 network nationwide, which by the end of 2007 covered than 87% of the population.[citation needed] Cellcom was the first in Israel to launch an HSDPA network (also called "Generation 3.5") nationwide.[citation needed]

In 2011, Cellcom began to deploy UMTS services in the 850 MHz band, employing unused capacity in that frequency range since by then it had very few TDMA customers remaining.[citation needed] The Israeli Ministry of Communications has approved Cellcom's plan to shut down the TDMA-850 network on 31 December 2011.[citation needed] In August 2014, Cellcom launched an LTE network in the 1800 MHz band.

Frequencies used on the Cellcom Network
Frequency Band
number		 Protocol Class
1800 MHz 3 GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
850 MHz 5 UMTS/HSPA 3G
2100 MHz 1
1800 MHz 3 LTE 4G
3500 MHz 5G

Controversy and criticism

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In 2009, Cellcom launched an ad campaign showing Israel Defense Forces soldiers playing football across the Israeli West Bank barrier.[7] Ahmad Tibi, an Arab-Israeli member of the Knesset, called on Cellcom to withdraw the commercial.[8]

A major service outage across the country on 1 December 2010 impacted on Cellcom's Q4 results.[9] The company decided to refund customers with one week's worth of calls and messages although the customers never actually received their refund, says Daniel Martinez of The Jerusalem Post.[10]

On 18 May 2021, Cellcom ceased its operations for one hour in support for Jewish-Arab coexistence and solidarity with Palestinians. Many thousands of Israelis cancelled their service in response.[11][12]

Involvement in Israeli settlements

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See also: List of companies operating in West Bank settlements

On 12 February 2020, the United Nations published a database of 112 companies helping to further Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied Golan Heights.[13] These settlements are considered illegal under international law.[14] Cellcom was listed on the database on account of its "provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements" and "the use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes" in these occupied territories.[15]

On 5 July 2021, Norway's largest pension fund KLP said it would divest from Cellcom together with 15 other business entities implicated in the UN report for their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.[16]

CEOs

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Picture Name Years
Yaakov Peri April 1995 - January 2003 Formerly the head of Shin Bet, He led the company in its first eight years, from a small mobile phone competitor to one of the leading media companies in Israel.
Isaac Petersburg January 2003 - October 2005 Former CEO of General Health Services. During his time, the company launched the Japanese i-mode brand with special devices that support mobile browsing for the i-mode portal.
Amos Shapira October 2005 - December 2011 Former CEO of El Al. Shortly after taking office, he published his personal cell phone number and invited the company's customers to contact him directly.
Nir Stern January 2012 - January 2020 Former CEO of 013 Netviz'n. During his time, Cellcom launched the Cellcom TV service and purchased 70% of the unlimited shares.
Avi Gabbay January 2020 -

November 2021

Former CEO of Bezeq, Member of the Knesset, Chairman of the Labor Party and Minister of Environmental Protection in the 34th Israel Government.
Daniel Sapir January 2022 - August 2024
Eli Adadi August 2024 - Present

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Cellcom Israel Announces Second Quarter 2016 Results". cellcom.co.il. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Dun's 100 2012 - Largest Service & Trade Companies - by Operating Revenue". Retrieved 15 February 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Cellcom awards new CEO Eli Adadi NIS 3.2m pay package". Globes. 2024-08-18. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  4. ^ "דף הבית - הבורסה לניירות ערך בתל אביב | אתר הבורסה". market.tase.co.il. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  5. ^ Fisher, Lawrence M. (14 August 1995). "Israelis and Others Feel the Sting of a Cellular Phone Bug". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  6. ^ "Pelephone launches 3G network". TeleGeography. 2004-09-07. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  7. ^ Seth Freedman, The Guardian, 20 July 2009, Cellcom's cynical commercial Archived 2017-08-18 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Haaretz, 15 July 2009, Ahmed Tibi joins opposition to Cellcom commercial Archived 2009-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Lubell, Maayan (2 Dec 2010). "UPDATE 1-Cellcom says network outage to impact Q4 results". Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  10. ^ Friedman, Ron (3 Dec 2010). "Mobile meltdown: Cellcom says sorry to customers". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 12 February 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  11. ^ "Right-wingers cut ties with cellphone provider Cellcom after it backed Arab strike". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  12. ^ "Cellcom under fire for 'coexistence' initiative". Israel National News. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  13. ^ "UN rights office issues report on business activities related to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  14. ^ "UN Security Council Resolution 2334, 2016 (S/RES/2334(2016))". United Nations Security Council. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Database of all business enterprises involved in certain activities relating to Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank (A/HRC/43/71)". UN OCHA. 12 Feb 2020. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  16. ^ Fouche, Gwladys; Jessop, Simon (5 July 2021). "Nordic fund KLP excludes 16 companies over links to Israeli settlements in West Bank". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
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