The Ministry of Communications has agreed to assign the prefix 053 to Mirs Communications Ltd. in place of its current 057 prefix. As previously reported in "Globes", Mirs has requested a new prefix in an effort to rid itself of its poor reputation, and which mainly services institutional bodies and businesses.
Mirs is currently forming a new network with which it intends to enter the private market, and therefore it sees the new prefix as essential.
The ministry has stipulated a number of conditions that need to be fulfilled in order for Mirs to receive the new prefix. To that end, it published a public hearing to which anyone wanting to comment on the subject will be able to respond. The new prefix will replace the old prefix gradually over nine months. According to ministry regulations, mobile companies are not permitted to operate numerous prefixes simultaneously, and therefore Mirs will be required to cease using its old prefix and to transfer all of its existing customers to the new prefix.
According to the hearing, the moment Mirs begins using the new prefix, it will no longer be allowed to accept new customers with the old prefix. It will only be allowed to add new subscribers for strategic and business partners with sequential numbers. The cessation of the 057 prefix will begin in 2013.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 4, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012