Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel - April 3, 2001 - Partner Communications Company Ltd. (NASDAQ: PTNR), the Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM, mobile telephone network operator in Israel proudly announced today that its customer base has surpassed one million subscribers. In nine quarters since its commercial launch, Partner has established itself as a leader in the cellular market in Israel. Partner leads in terms of subscriber growth. Partner captured 73% of the market's incremental revenue growth in 2000, while its market share grew to over 20%. Partner's subscribers benefit from a wide range of value added services.
Its advanced cellular network provides nation-wide coverage through more than 1500 macro and micro base stations. orangeT subscribers can use the cellular phone in 80 countries world wide, and use the services of 201 GSM networks with which Partner has direct roaming agreements. Over 200,000 subscribers enjoyed Partner's roaming services. Partner leads the market with the number of SMS (Short Message Service) messages generated by its subscribers. On average, each of Partner's one million subscribers generates 38 SMS messages per month. Almost half of the company's customers utilize Partner's SMS services and access the rich content provided by Partner.
"This is an outstanding achievement," said Amikam Cohen, Partner's CEO, "made possible by the joint contribution of our management and employees, working together day and night to create value for our customers and shareholders. We lead the market with the average number of minutes of use generated on our network, with the monthly revenue per user, and with the build-up of usage habits that transform the traditional role of a cellular operator from voice only provider, into a leading source for data, information, education, and m-commerce services."
Cohen added "Partner's story is a story of tremendous success. We have delivered on our promises and have dramatically exceeded expectations. Partner is committed to playing a leading role in the Israeli market by providing innovative and competitive rate plans, network quality and superior customer services, and the widest range of Value Added Services".
Partner Communications Company Ltd. is the only Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM, mobile telephone network operator in Israel. The Company commenced full commercial operations in January 1999 under the international Orange Brand name and, through its network, provides quality of service and a range of features to over 1,000,000 subscribers in Israel. Partner provides its subscribers with international roaming services. It has 201 operators in 80 countries. The Company's shares are quoted on NASDAQ under the symbol PTNR and on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol PCCD.
(For further information: www.investors.partner.co.il Contact:
Dr. Dan Eldar
VP Carrier, Investor and International Relations
Tel: +972-3-9054151
Fax: +972-3-9054161
E-mail: dan.eldar@orange.co.il