There are currently five providers of cellular service in Israel. The Communications Ministry may award further operator licences at some unspecified date.

The four services now available are:

  • Pelephone - analogue and CDMA service - the first, largest & most expensive operator
  • Cellcom - EFRC/TDMA service - the biggest competitor - starting to suffer from capacity problems and tying up deals to avoid catastrophe. They're introducing a GSM service (to solve the capacity issues, and offer an upgrade path to GPRS).
  • Orange - GSM service - the cheapest, not renowned for good customer service
  • MIRS - cellphone and private radio service combined - aimed at business market
  • Amigo - MIRS for the consumer market.
GSM owners visiting Israel can roam on the Orange network. Pelephone, Cellcom and Orange all offer phones with prepaid cards - these would be be more cost-effective if staying in the country longer-term. They all have sales kiosks in the major shopping malls.