For the first time in months, Pelephone reported a net

recruitment of subscribers.

For the first time in months, Pelephone Communications Ltd. reported a net recruitment of subscribers in February 2013, while Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) and Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) continued to lose subscribers. At the same time, HOT Mobile Ltd. beat Golan Telecom Ltd. recruiting twice as many new subscribers.

Pelephone recruited a net 3,500 new subscribers in February (although another source says that the figure was 2,500 subscribers). The success was partly achieved through aggressive sales campaigns and television commercials since the beginning of the year. The carrier still suffers with a high churn rate, losing 17,400 subscribers in February. Golan Telecom lost 14,800 subscribers

Among the mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), Rami Levy Communications beat YouPhone, recruiting a net 2,700 subscribers to 1,300. Both carriers are offering discounts to customers.

Notwithstanding expectations that prices in the mobile market would stabilize, the market is still at boiling point and prices are not cooling down.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on March 2, 2014