Keeping in Touch: Internet Access and Telephone Options in Homes in Israel
Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by DebbieG in Miscellaneous
©iStockphoto.com/Sharon Dominick
One of the questions many people ask when viewing a property in Israel relates to the telephone and Internet access in the home. Generally, the Kablan prepares the infrastructure for a telephone line and cable service, and the owner or renter of the house has to handle contracting and connecting to the provider/s of his choice.
There are a host of different options for making phone calls from the home in Israel. The following is a summary of the telephone services available in Israel and the various providers who offer all or some of these services:
- Landline – Bezeq, Israel’s single incumbent operator offers a standard, traditional, landline. You don’t need anything other than phone jacks (and phones) in order to use this service. If you use a corded phone that does not require electricity to function, your phone will still work during a power outage.
- Cellphone – There are currently four mobile telephone network operators in Israel : Partner (Orange); Pelephone (a subsidiary of Bezeq); Cellcom; and Mirs.
- Long-distance providers – there are a whole host of companies that offer competitive long-distance rates for telephone calls that can be made from any phone/cell phone in the house. These include 012 Smile, 013 Netvision, 014 Bezeq International, and 018 XPhone, among others.
- VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a general term for telephone service using broadband Internet. If you choose this phone service, you will get a device through which you make and receive telephone calls. This device will need to plug in to your router or internet modem (with a cable, not wirelessly) and to an electrical outlet. Since the initial setup requires some technical knowledge, some of the companies will send a technician to your house with the device for initial setup/install. Companies offering this service include 012 Smile, Orange, 018Xphone and Olehphone and each one offers a host of different plans such as unlimited calls in Israel and overseas, additional lines, and extra features. Since the device providing the service is connected to the internet, losing internet connectivity means losing phone service. Furthermore, if you have a power outage you will lose your phone service as well (although this doesn’t matter if you only have cordless phones in the house since none of the phones would work anyway).
- Cable – HOT offers a landline using their cable-line infrastructure. The cable company provides you with a modem through which you get your phone service. The difference between this and VoIP is that this service has nothing to do with Internet access. However, since the modem needs to plug into an electrical outlet, if you have a power outage you will lose your phone service as well.
When it comes to Internet Access in the home in Israel, there are basically 3 options available:
- Dial-up – if you’re still using dial-up connection, it’s probably time to upgrade to one of the following:
- Cable – HOT is the only infrastructure provider for cable Internet. The service uses HOT’s cables and the modem you get will need to connect to a HOT point in the house.
- ADSL – Bezeq is the only infrastructure provider for Internet via ADSL. The service runs over Bezeq’s cables and the modem you will use will need to connect to a phone jack in the house.
After selecting an infrastructure company, you will need to choose an Internet Service Provider (ISP). All of the ISP’s in Israel offer packages for Internet via cable and ADSL. Again the list includes 012 Smile, 013 Netvision, 014 Bezeq International, and 018 XPhone, among others. Once you have either cable or ADSL service in the house then you can have a wireless network sharing that connection. For a wireless home network*, you will need a wireless router that connects to your modem (or a router that is a router/modem box).
Recently, cellphone companies in Israel (Orange, Cellcom, etc.) began offering wireless Internet access in the home as well. Internet access is via a modem received from the providing cellphone company.
[*If you are setting up a wireless network in your home, bear in mind that the Mamad (security room) is made of reinforced concrete and therefore if the connection has to penetrate the Mamad walls, the wireless signal may be weak. For this reason, it is strongly recommend to buy a wireless N router and in some cases, it may also be necessary to use a ‘repeater’ to extend the wireless network range without having to add any wiring.]
Due to the extremely competitive telephone, Internet and cable market in Israel, there are always deals and promotions to encourage customers to switch to different plans. Like everything in Israel, you should try to understand the various offerings, shop around and negotiate the best deal possible. It’s very likely that you will need only one or maybe two providers for all your telecom needs, you will be giving these companies a lot of business, so try to negotiate the best deal that you can. Chances are that your will be locked in to a plan for a certain amount of time (usually 12-36 months). When this period has expired, you should remember to renegotiate your package and/or look around for better deals.
Avraham Butel contributed to this article. Avraham is a freelance IT and network support consultant. He can be reached by email at abebutel@gmail.com or by telephone at 050-8538365.
© Copyright 2010.
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