Page 31 - Sphere No.10 (Dec 2003)

W hen Partner Commu-
nications paid US$400
million in 1998 for
a licence to establish the
first GSM mobile telephone network in
Israel, many observers saw it as folly.
Marking the commercial launch in January
1999, local newspapers said the Israeli cel-
lular market was already saturated, domi-
nated by two of the nation’s strongest cor-
porations. The money had been wasted,
they said.
But Hutchison saw something different.
In Partner’s 1999 annual report, Canning
Fok, HWL Group Managing Director and
Chairman of Partner, noted: “The conver-
gence of wirefree services and the Internet
is opening up a new and exciting era for
cellular, in which operators will increasing-
ly differentiate themselves based on the
range of services and applications they offer.
As the sole GSM operator in a world-lead-
ing high-tech centre such as Israel, Partner
is well positioned to leverage these
resources.”
Five years since its inception, the strate-
gy has paid off and the Hutchison-backed
mobile telecommunications company has
become an unmitigated success.
Not only has Partner defied the critics
but it has done so at the speed of sound,
exceeding almost every expectation. From
a standing start, Partner has become a lead-
ing operator with more than two million
customers and revenues that continue to
be upwardly mobile.
At ground level, Israel is an exciting
cellular market and its people are enthusi-
astic users.
Analysts were cautious when the Israeli government auctioned a new mobile licence five years
ago, but Hutchison sprang into action to take advantage of the opportunity.
By Frank Lee
A Warm
Reception
S PHERE
1229