Cellular antennas will no longer be installed in residential apartments or balconies, The Knesset Committee on the Interior and the Environment unanimously decided on Wednesday.

The committee also decided that the Environment Minister would be able to allow antennas to be installed on rooftop patios only in special circumstances.

Cell phones are ubiquitous today in Israel, but users may be paying a heavier price than just their monthly bills.

Antennas, which make the phones possible, sprout like mushrooms after the rain on public and private buildings; sometimes cleverly hidden on lamp posts, advertising signs and roofs of public institutions.

Complaints from the public, worried about the growing number of antennas, have become an everyday event and not without reason. According to statistics from local authorities, one antenna has been built for every eight households and the number is increasing.