Telecommunications in Slovakia includes fixed and mobile telephones, radio, television, and the Internet.

Telephone

Fixed lines

Slovak Telecom Inc. (former Slovenské Telekomunikácie, a.s.) was privatised on 18 July 2000. The 51% package of shares was purchased by the German Deutsche Telecom AG for 1 bln. EUR (more than 44 bln. SKK at that time). The outstanding 49% of the shares are still owned by the Slovak government through the Department of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic (34%) and the National Property Fund (15%). Slovak Telecom was rebranded to T-Com in the year 2003.Ako prebiehala privatizácia ST? (2000)
. Retrieved 21 December 2010. In 2010 there were more than 100 companies licensed to provide public fixed line telephone service,Providers of networks and services (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic)
. Retrieved 21 December 2010. although many of these do not offer commercial service to the wider public. The most notable country-wide providers are T-Com, Orange, Dial Telecom, SWAN and UPC. Several regional providers also operate in the market. Many of these offer triple-play services consisting of a fixed line service,

broadband internet access Internet access is the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet using computer terminals, computers, and other devices; and to access services such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet access is sold by Internet ...

and access to television programmes. The number of triple-play customers has doubled since the service was introduced and currently peaks at 78,049 subscribers.Other Electronic Communication Services - Bundled Offers (Department of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic, 2010)
. Retrieved 21 December 2010.Figure is as of 30 June 2010, as opposed to 41,734 subscribers by 20 June 2008. Due to strong penetration of the Slovak market by mobile phones, the fixed lines sector has decreased dramatically in recent years. While there were 1,655,380 fixed lines in use in 1999, their number decreased by 60% to 994,421 in 2010. ;Key figures of the fixed lines sector *Fixed lines: 1.1 million lines, 75th in the world (2011)."Slovakia"
''The World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 10 September 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013. *Density: 18.31 lines per 100 inhabitants (2010).
Retrieved 21 December 2010. *Lines connected to digital exchanges: 100% (2010). *Households with fixed lines: 39.0% (2010).

Mobile cellular

Mobile communication in Slovakia first became available in the early 1990s when the first NMT network operator, EuroTel Bratislava, a.s., a subsidiary of the then state owned Slovenské Telekomunikácie a.s.

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 ...

, introduced the first GSM service to public in 1997. EuroTel was privatised together with its parent company and was rebranded as T-Mobile on 3 May 2005. It is now fully integrated as part of the international T-Mobile brand. The second GSM network operator started its operation on 15 January 1997 under the name GlobTel a.s. It was acquired by France Télécom (through Atlas Services Belgium, 100% shares) and rebranded to

Orange Slovensko Orange Slovensko, a.s. is a Slovak mobile network operator, also offering fibre connections, since 15 January 1997 (previously named Globtel), when it became the first mobile operator in Slovakia to operate the GSM digital mobile network at the 90 ...

on 27 March 2002.

Telefónica Europe O2 (typeset as O2) is a global brand name owned by the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica. The company uses the O2 brand for its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Germany. Since 2018, it is also used as an online-only flanker br ...

, the third mobile operator in Slovakia, entered the market in February 2007 under the O2 brand. Virtual providers are active in the Slovak market, the most notable being Tesco Mobile (associated with Tesco Stores) and FunFón (a virtual operator associated with a popular FM radio station). Key figures of the mobile cellular sector * Active mobile cellular: 6.0 million subscribers, 99th in the world (2011).Active mobile subscribers includes industrial applications such as Alarm systems that use a SIM card for GSM based communication. * Density: 105.12 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (2010). * Land coverage of land ( GSM): 95.9% of the land area (2010). * Population coverage ( GSM): 99.6% of the population (2010).

Telephone system

* International country code: +421, three international exchanges, one in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

and two in

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...

. * Emergency call numbers: **

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

- EU standard integrated emergency service (one nationwide call centre directly connected to police, EMS, firefighters, Mountain Rescue Service and others) ** 158 - direct call centre - Police ** 155 - direct call centre - EMS (features doctors available for consultations online) ** 150 - direct call centre - Firefighters ** 18300 - direct call centre - Mountain Rescue Service

Radio

* Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS), the state-owned public broadcaster, operates multiple national and regional radio networks (2008). * Privately owned radio stations: more than 20 (2008). * Radios: 3.12 million (1997). * List of most-listened-to radio stations as of June 2012: **

Rádio Expres Rádio Expres is a Slovak commercial radio station that broadcasts from Bratislava, Slovakia. It was launched in 2000. It broadcasts across more than 80 per cent of Slovakia and has a leading position in the Slovak market. The station's content ...

- 19.5% listened-to yesterday ** Rádio Slovensko - 17.0% listened-to yesterday ** Fun Rádio - 12.3% listened-to yesterday ** Jemné Melódie - 8.2% listened-to yesterday ** Rádio Europa 2 - 7.7% listened-to yesterday ** Rádio Regina - 6.3% listened-to yesterday ** Rádio Viva - 5.4% listened-to yesterday

Television

* Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS), the state-owned public broadcaster, operates 3 national TV stations (2008). * Privately owned TV stations: 35 operating nationally, regionally, and locally (2008). * Cable or satellite TV: ~ 40% of households are connected to multi-channel cable or satellite TV (2008). * Televisions: 2.62 million (1997).

Internet

Slovakia has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the world and the highest penetration rate in Central and Eastern Europe. Slovakia has a large number of full-area ISP's that offer wired broadband Internet connections, including

Slovak Telekom Slovak Telekom is the convergent telco provider with the largest internet, fixed-line, digital TV, ICT and mobile services portfolio. The company is 100% owned by Deutsche Telekom AG. The Slovak Telekom Group consists of the parent company Slo ...

and UPC. They offer a range of connections, from ADSL / ADSL2+ to fiber optic.

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...

or ADSL2+, VDSL is available in almost every town and village in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. ;Key figures of the Internet sector * Internet country code ( TLD):

.sk .sk is the Internet country code top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed i ...

* Internet users: ~ 80% of the population, ~ 4.4 million (2012)."Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2012"
International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013. * Internet hosts: 1.4 million, 41st in the world (2012).

Internet censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms without judicial oversight; however, police monitor Web sites containing

hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...

and attempt to arrest or fine the authors."Slovakia"
''Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 7 May 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013. The constitution and the law provide for freedom of speech and press. While the government mostly respects these rights in practice, in some instances, it limits these rights to impede criticism and limit actions of groups it considers extremist. The law prohibits the

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

of nationalities, punishable by up to three years in prison, and

denial of the Holocaust Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: * ...

, which carries a sentence of six months to three years in prison. Criminal penalties for defamation are rarely used. The constitution and the law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice. Police must present a warrant before conducting a search or within 24 hours afterwards. A new draft law under consideration in 2011 would allow the nation's tax office to block web servers that provide online gambling without a Slovak license. Opponents argue that the economic interests served by the law are not sufficient to justify online censorship."Slovakia: New Draft Law Threatens Internet Freedom"
OpenNet Initiative, 7 October 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2013.

Notes

References

External links

Department of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic

Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic

SK-NIC
Slovak TLD registry
Slovak Internet Exchange
(SIX) {{DEFAULTSORT:Telecommunications In Slovakia