Czech Republic

T-Mobile

On 14th March 1996 the CMobil consortium won a tender, from the Ministry of Economics Czech Republic, to operate a GSM Mobile Network.

On 23rd June 1996 a new company called RadioMobil was registered with the Czech Republic’s Commercial Court and began operating the Paegas mobile network on 30 September 1996.

In the year 2002 the Paegas moved to T-Mobile and in 2003 the name of company was changed to T-Mobile Czech Republic.

In 2004 T-Mobile enhanced its network with EDGE technology (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) to provide faster data transfer for its subscribers. Mobile broadband is a sought after product in the Czech Republic due to very low fixed-broadband penetration.

T-Mobile is a holder of a licence to operate a third-generation network, UMTS, but despite repeatedly announce plans to launch a 3G network has not yet done so.

Vodafone

Cesky Mobil was the first dual-band (GSM 900/1800) network operator in the Czech Republic after being granted a licence in October 1999. On the 1st of March 200 it launched commercial operations of its GSM network under the brand name Oskar as the third GSM operator in the country after Telefónica O2 (formerly Eurotel) and T-Mobile (formerly Paegas).

As of the 30th of September 2002 Oskar’s subscriber base topped 1,139,600 subscribers and its market share had reached 14 percent.

In September 2004, the company name changed from Cesky Mobil to Oskar Mobil and on the 1st of June 2005, Oskar became a member of the Vodafone Group.

The operator launched EDGE technology, unlimited data services and secured a UMTS licence allowing it to launch a third generation (3G) network, though it has yet to do so.

O2

Before it was in 2005 by Telefónica, O2’s mobile operation was named Eurotel and part of Český Telecom (Czech Telecom).

Upon launch in 1990 Eurotel 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, as well as a right to buy a licence for a future GSM network.

In 2001 it won a license to the third-generation UTMS network, agreeing to launch the service commercially, at least in Prague, by 1 January 2005. In 2003 however, it received a one-year extension in exchange for faster payments and was later granted another year-long extension due to the granting of a third UMTS licence to Vodafone.

In 2004 it launched CDMA/1xEV-DO broadband wireless service (data-only) using its old NMT 450MHz spectrum.

O2’s UMTS services launched on the 1st of November 2005 and on the 1st of May 2006 the company launched HSDPA services on top of UMTS services.

U:fon

U:fon, the operating arm of MobilKom, launched commercial CDMA services in the Czech Republic at the end of 2007 after receiving a CDMA licence in 2005. However, rather than take on rivals T-Mobile, O2 and Vodafone in the 2G voice segment, the newcomer is targeted the data services market by offering subscribers a mobile Internet package for CZK 237 (USD 11.33) per month to stimulate interest.

Its price plan compares favourably with O2’s cheapest offer of CZK 653 per month and T-Mobile’s entry level CZK 475 plan. In addition, U:fon offers calls from wireless fixed lines for a flat monthly charge of CZK 296, and call fees starting from CZK 0.7 a minute.

It has not ruled out offering mobile voice call services, saying it plans to add this option to its portfolio in 2008, subject to it achieving its coverage goals.