Telefónica Czech Republic (operating under the O2 brand) is a major integrated operator in the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. It is now operating more than six million lines, both fixed and mobile, making it one of the world’s leading providers of fully converged services. The organization offers the most comprehensive portfolio of voice and data services in this country. It is paying special attention to the exploitation of the growth potential, particularly in the data and Internet sector.
Telefónica Czech Republic operates the largest fixed and mobile network including a 3rd generation network, CDMA (for data), UMTS and EDGE

Edge

- Aviation :* Leading edge, a line connecting the forward-most points of a wing's profile* Trailing edge, the rear edge of the wing* Zivko Edge 540, an aerobatic aircraft- Mathematics, science and technology :...

, enabling voice, data and video transmission.
Telefónica Czech Republic is also a notable provider of ICT services

Previously two companies, fixed-line operator Český Telecom and mobile operator Eurotel, it was acquired by the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 company Telefónica

Telefónica

Telefónica, S.A. is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world...

 in 2005 and merged into a single legal entity and given its present name on 1 July 2006. The company is run by Telefónica's European mobile business Telefónica Europe and the CEO of the Czech unit is Luis Antonio Malvido.

History

The company was initially known as SPT Telecom (Státní telekomunikační podnik, state-owned telecommunications company), and used to have a monopoly for providing fixed-line services. It was reorganized and renamed Český Telecom (Czech Telecom), after the Velvet Divorce saw Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 separate into the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

 in 1993.

Its mobile subsidiary, Eurotel, was founded in 1990 as a joint venture between SPT (51%) and the American joint venture Atlantic West (between US WEST

US West

U S WEST, Inc. was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies , created in 1983 under the Modification of Final Judgement , a case related to the antitrust breakup of AT&T...

 International, Inc. and Bell Atlantic International Inc.). On launch it received an exclusive five-year licence to operate a public data network, and a 20-year licence for the 450 MHz band to operate an analogue NMT mobile phone network, and automatically also a right to buy a licence to the future GSM network.

In 2001, it won a license to the third-generation UTMS network. It paid 1 billion korunas immediately, and promised to pay an additional 2.5 billion korunas annually. It also agreed to launch the service commercially, at least in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, by 1 January 2005. In 2003, it received a one-year extension in exchange for faster payments. In 2005 it was granted another year-long extension due to the granting of a third licence to Vodafone

Vodafone Czech Republic

Vodafone Czech Republic is a member of the mobile telecommunications group Vodafone. The Vodafone Group established in 1982 and operates in 27 countries across five continents, not to mention partners in a further 33 countries.-History:...

. In the event, UMTS services launched on 1 November 2005. On 1 May 2006, the company launched HSDPA services on top of UMTS services.

In 2004 it launched CDMA/1xEV-DO

Evolution-Data Optimized

 Evolution-Data Optimized or Evolution-Data only is a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access...

broadband wireless service (data-only) at 450 MHz, leveraging its legacy NMT network.

Type of service	Number of customers (in thousands) at the end of the year
	2010	2009
Fixed lines	1 669	1 771
ADSL	806	725
Pay TV – O2 TV	129	138
Active mobile users in the Czech Republic	4 839	4 945
– postpaid	2 864	2 814
– prepaid	1 975	2 130
Active mobile users in the Slovakia	880	553

External links