The Billiken's Bluff

Motorola has developed a cellphone for Orthodox Jews. Israeli company MIRS Communication is now offering certified kosher phones, approved by rabbinical authorities to be used by those in Orthodox Jewish communities. The phones are Motorola handsets that have had all but the most basic services trimmed away, tossing out internet access, SMS, and any sort of extra applications, to help minimize the potential for “corrupting influences”.

MIRS expects the phone to add up to 100,000 users to its 300,000-strong subscriber base, charging extra-low prices for those calling within the network and relatively high tariffs to those calling outside.

The company and the rabbis hope that the skewed tariff structure will encourage ultra-Orthodox Jews to use only the MIRS handsets, while discouraging members of the haredi community from calling those without the “kosher” phones.