Cellcom Israel Announces a Purported Class Action Filed Against the Company

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Jun 07, 2011, 02:31 ET

NETANYA, Israel, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE: CEL) (TASE: CEL) (hereinafter: the "Company"), announced today that a purported class action lawsuit against the Company and three other cellular operators was filed in the District Court of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, by an Israeli citizen, in connection with the allegation that the defendants mislead customers who buy accessories for carrying cellular handsets or do not disclose to them relevant data concerning radiation hazards associated with the usage of accessories for carrying cellular handsets, allegedly contrary to the cellular handsets manufacturers' instructions and warnings and the Israeli Ministry of Health' recommendations.

The total amount claimed from the Company, if the lawsuit is certified as a class action, is estimated by the plaintiff to be approximately NIS 1 billion (out of a total sum of approximately NIS 2.7 billion against all defendants), substantially all for non monetary damages.

In addition, the plaintiff notes his intention to seek interim remedies to prevent further sale of such accessories by the defendants or to require them to take necessary precautionary measures, including by complying with alleged disclosure duties and by ceasing alleged misleading, if the defendants would not do so voluntarily within 15 days, given, among others, the International Agency for Research on Cancer's press release dated May 31, 2011, classifying radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer1, associated with wireless phone use.

At this preliminary stage, the Company is unable to assess the lawsuit's chances of success.

About Cellcom Israel

Cellcom Israel Ltd., established in 1994, is the leading Israeli cellular provider; Cellcom Israel provides its approximately 3.395 million subscribers (as at March 31, 2011) with a broad range of value added services including cellular and landline telephony, roaming services for tourists in Israel and for its subscribers abroad and additional services in the areas of music, video, mobile office etc., based on Cellcom Israel's technologically advanced infrastructure. The Company operates an HSPA 3.5 Generation network enabling advanced high speed broadband multimedia services, in addition to GSM/GPRS/EDGE and TDMA networks. Cellcom Israel offers Israel's broadest and largest customer service infrastructure including telephone customer service centers, retail stores, and service and sale centers, distributed nationwide. Through its broad customer service network Cellcom Israel offers its customers technical support, account information, direct to the door parcel services, internet and fax services, dedicated centers for the hearing impaired, etc. As of 2006, Cellcom Israel, through its wholly owned subsidiary Cellcom Fixed Line Communications L.P., provides landline telephone communication services in Israel, in addition to data communication services. Cellcom Israel's shares are traded both on the New York Stock Exchange (CEL) and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (CEL). For additional information please visit the Company's website http://www.cellcom.co.il

    Company Contact
    Yaacov Heen
    Chief Financial Officer
    [email protected]
    Tel: +972-52-998-9755

    Investor Relations Contact
    Porat Saar
    CCG Investor Relations Israel & US
    [email protected]
    Tel: +1-646-233-2161

SOURCE Cellcom Israel Ltd.