Partner Communications Company Ltd. ("Partner") (Nasdaq:PTNR)
(LSE:PCCD) (TASE:PTNR), a leading Israeli mobile communications
operator, announced that it was served on Monday, December 17, 2007,
with a lawsuit for which certification as a class action is sought,
filed against Partner and two other mobile communications operators,
in the Tel-Aviv District Court. The plaintiffs allege that cell sites
were erected near their properties illegally, causing environmental
damage. They seek various remedies, including the removal of all
allegedly illegal communications devices, including the Company´s and
the other operators´ 3G communication devices (for which relevant
building permits have been obtained under National Zoning Plan 36),
wireless access devices (which were deployed pursuant to a waiver from
obtaining building permits under the Communication Law) and
communication devices which have been "concealed" in another
structure.
The plaintiffs estimate the class damages against all 3 cellular
operators together at NIS 1 billion, which amount, if awarded, is to
be given to a fund managed by environment and communications
specialists.
Some of the plaintiffs´ claims have been similarly raised lately
by several local planning and building authorities while the validity
of the waiver for wireless access devices is pending in an appeals
court decision.
The Company believes it has strong legal arguments against those
claims and intends to contest this lawsuit vigorously. At this
preliminary stage, the Company is unable to assess the lawsuit´s
chances of success.
About Partner Communications
Partner Communications Company Ltd. ("Partner") is a leading
Israeli mobile communications operator providing GSM / GPRS / UMTS /
HSDPA services and wire free applications under the orange(TM) brand.
The Company provides quality service and a range of features to 2.796
million subscribers in Israel (as of September 30, 2007). Partner´s
ADSs are quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Market(TM) and the London
Stock Exchange. Its shares are also traded on the Tel Aviv Stock
Exchange (Nasdaq:PTNR) (LSE:PCCD) (TASE:PTNR).
Partner is a subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications
International Limited ("Hutchison Telecom"), a leading global provider
of telecommunications services. Hutchison Telecom currently offers
mobile and fixed line telecommunications services in Hong Kong, and
operates mobile telecommunications services in Israel, Macau,
Thailand, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Vietnam and Indonesia. It was the first
provider of 3G mobile services in Hong Kong and Israel and operates
brands including "Hutch", "3" and "orange". Hutchison Telecom, a
subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited, is a listed company with
American Depositary Shares quoted on the New York Stock Exchange under
the ticker "HTX" and shares listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong
under the stock code "2332". For more information about Hutchison
Telecom, see www.htil.com.
For more information about Partner, see
www.orange.co.il/investor_site/.
