Partner Communications Company Ltd.

Partner was founded in 1999 and was the third mobile network operator to enter the Israeli market, competing with the two incumbent operators - Cellcom (Founded 1994) and Pelephone (Founded 1986). When it was announced that the Ministry of Telecommunication would grant a third cellular network license it was thought that there is no room for another company; hence only two companies responded to the tender: Partner, and a group called "Tapuz". After losing its bid, Tapuz (which incidentally means "Orange" in Hebrew) became a part of Partner.

When it started operating in 1999, Partner was the first GSM cellular network in Israel (the others were using CDMA, TDMA, or iDEN technologies at that time), it allowed Israeli consumers to use their phones in other locations in the world with a similar network. The network was branded under the name "Orange", which was an international brand registered under the name of Hutchison Whampoa Hong-Kong, which was the major initial investor in the company. The successful launch and promotion of the Orange brand is considered one of the best advertising efforts undertaken in Israel.

Founding shareholders

The initial shareholders in the consortium that bid for the third cellular network license in Israel, in addition to Hutchison Telecom, were Elbit, MATAV (now part of HOT), Eurocom and Polar Communications.

2001 IPO

In November 1999, only 11 months after it began operating, Partner had an initial public offering on NASDAQ and the London Stock Exchange; the shares were listed under the symbol PTNR on NASDAQ and under the symbol PCCD on the London Stock Exchange. The company raised $604m, enabling the initial investor consortium to recoup a significant portion of their investment swiftly. In 2001 the shares were also listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the symbol PTNR and became a constitute of the TA-35 Index. The company maintained dual listing until 2023 when it delisted from Nasdaq in favour of listing solely on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Hutchison takes full control

Through the years, the ownership of Partner Communications changed dramatically. The original Israeli partners sold the majority of their shares and eventually held only a small percentage of the company. Other than the public, the biggest shareholder became Hutchison Telecom (51.6%). The Egyptian company Orascom bought 20% of Hutchison, and as a result, held 9.99% of Partner's shares indirectly.

Sale to Scailex Corporation

During 2009 Hutchison decided to exit their investment in Partner and sold their 51% controlling stake to businessman Ilan Ben-Dov, who made his fortune holding the exclusive rights to market the Samsung mobile phones in Israel. The company was sold to Scailex Corporation (a company controlled by Ben-Dov) for NIS 5.29 billion (about US$1.38 billion).

Acquisition of 012 Smile

In 2010, Partner acquired 012 Smile Telecom for NIS 1.45 billion, in the largest non-real-estate deal in Israel that year. 012 Smile was itself the product of a 2006 merger between 012 Golden Lines and Internet Gold's Smile Communications.

Operations

Partner Communications commenced full commercial operations in January 1999 and by 31 March 2001 had over 1 million subscribers, representing an estimated 21% of the cellular market in Israel at that time. As of June 2016 it has 2.7 million subscribers.

The prefix (area code) for Partner customers is 054, although customers who requested to keep their old number from a different cellular company may have a different area code, as required by law.

On 15 January 2007 Partner was granted a license to provide terrestrial telecommunications nationwide which gives it the option to operate a wired telephony; initially the service was provided for large businesses only.

On 1 January 2009, the company commercially launched its ISP services and Landline services (based on the Session Initiation Protocol) for private users and small businesses. These services rely on the combination of Nokia Siemens Network core services and Siemens Gigaset residential gateway. The combination of these allowed Partner to launch several unique services such as multiple calls on a single line, or *77 which allows users to choose whether to answer an incoming call on their home phone or their Orange mobile phone.

Involvement in Israeli settlements

Partner Communications has faced criticism, including from the BDS movement, for their operations within West Bank settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.

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. Partner Communications 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.

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