O2 Czech Republic (operating under the
O2 brand) is a major integrated operator in the
Czech Republic. It is now operating more than six million lines, both fixed and mobile, making it one of the Czech Republic’s leading providers of fully converged services. O2 Czech Republic operates a fixed and mobile network including a 3rd generation network,
CDMA (for data),
UMTS and
EDGE, enabling voice, data and video transmission. O2 Czech Republic is also a provider of
ICT
ICT may refer to:
Sciences and technology
* Information and communications technology
* Image Constraint Token, in video processing
* Immunochromatographic test, a rapid immunoassay used to detect diseases such as anthrax
* In-circuit test, in ...
services.
Previously two companies, fixed-line operator Český Telecom and mobile operator
Eurotel
Eurotel was the trade name of the first mobile phone network in Czechoslovakia. Given the possibility of a forthcoming of split of Czechoslovakia into two separate countries, Eurotel was formed as two separate legal entities: Eurotel Praha and E ...
, it was acquired by the
Spanish company
Telefónica in 2005 and merged into a single legal entity and given its present name on 1 July 2006.
In 2013 it was announced that Telefónica would sell its stake in the company to
PPF and the company would continue to use the O
2 brand for a maximum of four years.
[Telefónica Agrees the Sale of Telefónica Czech Republic to PPF for 2,467 mln euros]
In August 2017 the brand license agreement was extended to 2022, with a 5 year extension to 2027 available.
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 separate into the Czech Republic and
Slovakia 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 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
UMTS 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, 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. 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 broadband wireless service (data-only) at 450 MHz, leveraging its legacy NMT network.
In 2012, O2 Czech Republic opened its network to virtual operators.
On 1 June 2015, O2 Czech Republic has been separated into two mutually independent companies. O2 is the retail operator with the infrastructure provided by
CETIN
CETIN a.s., (also known as Česká telekomunikační infrastruktura, its former name) is a Czech telecommunications company that is part of PPF Group, an international investment group formerly majority-owned by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner. Th ...
. The separation includes commercial and managerial leadership and management of both companies, including security, IT and control systems.
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Mobile phone companies of the Czech Republic
Telecommunications companies established in 2006
2006 establishments in the Czech Republic
Telefónica
PPF Group