Sunday 14 February 2016

Exploring Cell Phone Contracts in Israel





We have had a little difficulty with our cell phone package and hence have been looking into other options. These are our findings so far.


Golan gives a number of options for packages, their big draw card for many is that it gives a service to 56 countries and 10 Giga. They do offer unlimited SMS and calls within Israel too. The contract is supposed to be for a year. If you sign up as a couple there are times that they suddenly alter one of the contracts to be only 5 months and you will have to pay NIS 49 to have a rate that suits you and you then lose being linked to the other party in the couple. About a month before the contract is due to expire you have to go online, check any special deals and call many times to find out the best price for a contract. In order to have the contract price that you want you have to pay a fee of NIS 49. If you go with Golan, calling to speak to a representative can take hours. They give an option to have a representative call you back but this can take days before you get the phone call. Golan at times has a limit of a few days to activate your card. If you do not activate on time, your contract is automatically put up to NIS 99 and you have to pay a penalty of NIS 120 in order to get the contract you originally arranged.  At the end of a year contract there is a fee of NIS 49 per line. However, this often ends up being at all different times of the year, not together if you sign up as a family. Hence you have to be well organized in documenting the time of the year and spend time constantly checking special deals. Every time you wish to switch to a special deal is at a fee of NIS 49

There is a company called Annatel that offers contracts of NIS 49 per month for a year and at the end of the year you are locked into paying NIS 99 per month with no option to alter this from what I understand.

Rami Levi offers unlimited phone calls and SMS in Israel and the option of either 1Giga, 5 Giga or 10 Giga. There are no overseas calling options. There are also no family deal options. The 5 Giga will be a cost of NIS 25 a month and the 10 Giga at a cost of NIS 50 a month. At the end of the year, in order to keep to the contract price you have arranged you have to pay a one time NIS 29 per line.
To call Rami Lavi took about 5 minutes to have someone answer.

Hot Mobile offers unlimited calls, SMS and MMS in Israel; 5 Giga and options for calls to 31 countries. They have a special deal for a couple and if you are a couple plus another family member there is a further special package rate. Hot Mobile offers delivery of SIM cards to your door at no extra charge and gives you a month to activate the SIM. At the end of the year there is the same need to check packages about a month before the contract will end. The one time fee to keep the contract you are on is NIS 39 per line. Hot was quite easy to get through to and the person was very kind and helpful. That part was a pleasure. When I told her I am an Olah and speak Hebrew but request her to speak slowly, she was happy to do so.

These are our findings thus far. If anyone has other info to add, please do so in the comments below. Please note, comments are moderated to prevent SPAM.

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