History
In September 1999, an evaluation of the tender for the third license to operate telecommunications services in the GSM 1800 MHz band was conducted. Of the four registered bidders (Český Mobil, Orange, CrysTel, Vlna+) the best to meet the requirements of the tender were Český Mobil (148 points out of 150 possible) and Orange (132 points out of 150). When comparing the experience with the operation of networks in the 1800 MHz (100% versus 0%) and the number of users (3.5 million versus 456 thousand), Orange prevailed, while Canadian Telesystems International Wireless (TIW, the majority shareholder of Český Mobil) had the difference from its rival having operated a mobile network in Romania (i.e. had experience with the operation of the network in an Eastern European country) and offered its network three months from the completion of the tender, i.e. during the scheduled completion of the tender at the end of September 1999, it should be running a network by Český Mobil by the end of December 1999. Orange offered to launch its network in early March 2000. The tender was won by Český Mobil. On October 8, 1999, Český Mobil had its contract. It included a clause to run the network within three months:Oskar slaví první narozeninyThe Vodafone network
Commercial operation of the network was launched in March 2000. The Vodafone network currently covers 99.1% of the population. With the launch of EDGE, Vodafone introduced unlimited data services in 2005. The operation of its 3G network was launched in 2009. It launched LTE 4 years later for the first time. Vodafone is different from other operators in that they want LTE networks to cover mainly rural areas. By the end of 2014, it plans to cover 93% of the population.Virtual operators in the Vodafone network
On December 2, 2013 Vodafone launched its own virtual operator Oskarta, whose name follows its earlier service. It is a prepaid card that is already characterized by cheap calls. The Vodafone network currently comprises 23 virtual operators. Among them include: Centropol Telecom, COOP Mobil, DH Telecom, LAMA Mobile, Oskarta, Quadruple, SazkaMobil, Studentfone.Corporate responsibility
Vodafone is environmentally friendly and the first operator to launch a so-called Green network. More than two-thirds of its telecommunications network is supplied from renewable sources (hydropower, biogas plants, combustion of biomass, wind, solar) and the remaining 30% of energy consumption annually relies on 20,000 trees being planted in cooperation with the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape. According to a number of different parameters (material production, transportation, energy consumption) Vodafone is granted the environmental assessment Eco-class. The Vodafone Foundation, a non-profit organization since its founding in 2006, has distributed more than 125 million CZK. It supports young people in particular and all others who use their energy and creativity for the benefit of the community and society. Within the accelerator program Laboratory, the Vodafone Foundation helps implement ideas and projects, providing grants, regular meetings and mentoring and its successful graduates even have the opportunity to go abroad.Management
Petr Dvořák is the CEO of Vodafone Czech Republic since 2018. Balesh Sharma was director from 2013–17 and Jiří Báča between 2017-18.References
External links
* {{Authority control Telecommunications in the Czech Republic Mobile phone companies of the Czech Republic Vodafone Telecommunications companies established in 1999 Czech companies established in 1999