Partner Communications Welcomes the Pope and the Pilgrims with Special Services, Enhanced Coverage and Joint Marketing Communication with Telecom Italia Mobile

Business Wire, March 20, 2000

Business Editors

ROSH HA'AYIN, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 2000

Partner Communications Company Ltd. (NASDAQ: PTNR) operator of the orange GSM network in Israel, announced today the completion of preparations for the arrival of the Pope between the 21 and 26 March 2000, accompanied by tens of thousands of pilgrims. Partner will provide enhanced coverage to cater for the crowds expected to attend the events during the Papal visit and a special news service over-the-phone in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. In addition, a joint Marketing Communications project has been established with Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), the leading Italian GSM operator and official sponsor of the Jubilee.

The Pope's delegation is expected to land in Israel on the 21 of March, 2000. During the week of the visit, the Pope will visit the cities of Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem; he will meet with the President of the State of Israel, as well as with leaders of the Jewish and Muslim religions in Jerusalem. According to Press reports, the Pope will be accompanied by a delegation from the Vatican, and by more than 40,000 pilgrims from all over the world. In addition, some 2000 members of the Press are expected to submit live reports from Israel during the visit, many of them by means of their GSM phones. With International Roaming agreements with 153 Networks in 68 countries around the world, Partner Communications welcomes daily thousands of GSM subscribers from around the world that roam into its network and enjoy the coverage of Partner's network in Israel. Partner expects a considerable increase in traffic during the time of visit and has launched a major technical and engineering effort to meet the capacity needs of the visitors. Special services will be provided during an open-air Mass to be conducted on the Mount of Beatitudes in Korazim, overlooking the North-West shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Amikam Cohen, Partner Communications CEO said today: "We are proud to be able to use the unique features of GSM technology in order to provide mobile communications to visitors on this historical occasion. The visitors to Israel can enjoy a wide range of advanced information services, many of them specifically designed with the tourist and visitor in mind. In addition a full range of voice, data and fax services are made available to users of our network, to answer the needs of all roamers", he added.

Partner also joined forces with Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), the leading Italian GSM carrier and official sponsor of the Jubilee for the Vatican, in order to greet the Pilgrims from Italy and guide them as to the usage of their GSM phone in Israel. This includes a joint Pilgrimage map of the Holly Land to be distributed at major Italian Airports and at the Vatican, Joint Internet Promotion, and measures to ensure during the visit the high level of service that the International Roaming customers are accustomed to.

A range of special services has been designed for customers who will be using the network during the Pope's visit. One of them has been developed in cooperation with the Israel Broadcast Authority and with Telemesser, the leading Interactive Voice Response provider from Israel. Through this service Partner will provide visiting GSM subscribers with daily news broadcasts of the Israel Broadcast Authority in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. The broadcasts will include reports relating to the Papal visit. The project is based on the international news broadcasts of Kol Israel, the Israeli national radio station. With this service of "News on Demand," the visiting international GSM subscriber will be informed about the highlights of the visit, as well as other current affairs and weather forecasts.

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 400,000 subscribers in Israel. Partner subscribers can use roaming services in 68 countries using 153 GSM networks. The Company shares are quoted on NASDAQ under the symbol PTNR and on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol PCCD.

(For further information: http://investors.partner.co.il)