Eurotel Launches 3g Network In Czech Republic

[beppe_bl]

Europe Czech Republic : Eurotel Praha, spol. s r. o. announced the commercial operation in its UMTS network would be launched. The first and only complex UMTS services portfolio in the Czech Republic based on data transmission as well as voice, video and quality multimedia services in real time is now automatically available to all customers of post-paid as well as prepaid services of Eurotel. No extra activation is needed to enter the world of UMTS ? customers only need a Eurotel SIM card and a UMTS enabled handset.

Quality high-speed Internet access, real time video transmission, quality multimedia applications, fast downloads of video and music or TV streaming and on-line traffic cameras ? a combination of state-of-the-art mobile handsets and the speed of the newly deployed UMTS network allow Eurotel to offer its customers a set of brand new services and improve the established services that could not have been fully exploited in the existing GSM network or have been difficult to implement. UMTS is coming true on 1st December. Eurotel is launching commercial operation in its UMTS network and is opening a new era of mobile telecommunications in the Czech Republic. It is more than one year prior to the date Eurotel committed to in its UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) license.

?Data services are being used more and more frequently. The demand for quality and fast mobile transmission and Internet access is increasing. People want to use their mobile handset for voice calls, but also as a full-scale source of information and entertainment. And we are bringing everything to our customers now,? said Stanislav Kura, Chief Strategy and New Product Development Officer of Eurotel Praha, spol. s r.o. ?And we are certainly going to further extend the music, TV, and other content,? he added.


Eurotel Video Calling for CZK 1 /min

When making a call in the UMTS network customers can hear each other as well as see each other. People can make video calls to get in touch with their close ones, and they can also share pictures of what is going on around them, consult their shopping or communicate with their physician. And this is no special service, it is a standard feature. Really everybody can enjoy video calling. They can either make video calls free of charge (since most tariff customers will get 10 ? 100 free video calling minutes together with their monthly flat fee), or for the promo price of CZK 1 per one minute, this offer is valid until 30th June 2006. Also the fees charged for international video calls are very favorable ? they are approximately just 20% more expensive than the regular voice calls.

Eurotel Live!: Full music tracks starting from CZK 20, video for CZK 6 - 30

Thanks to the new dimension of the UMTS network it was also possible to enhance and enrich the existing portfolio of multimedia services and applications available at the infotainment portal at the Eurotel Live!. And despite the more extensive and attractive services the prices remain the same! The current pricing as specified for GSM remains valid for UMTS as well, and in addition to that there is a special promo prepared for customers; until 28th February 2006 customers will pay just CZK 0.05 for 1 kB of transmitted data instead of the standard fee CZK 0.30 per 1kB. The new network also significantly improves video and music downloads. Eurotel Jukebox service offers listening to and downloading of full real-tone music tracks in the top quality. Older releases will be charged CZK 20 and new additions CZK 29; which is clearly the lowest price in Europe at the moment! With Eurotel Video customers can download video. The spots featuring movie teasers, general or sports news, weather forecast, selected VyVolen? reality show spots, fashion or erotics will be charged between CZK 6 and 30. Customers can also stream TV ?cko music station for the initial price of CZK 20/24 hours valid until 30th June 2006.


Eurotel On-line Traffic Cameras for CZK 1

With their UMTS handset customers will always have the latest traffic information in their hand. Eurotel on-line Traffic Cameras service transfers real time pictures from traffic cameras that monitor traffic on the roads and intersections to customers? mobile phones. Initially the service will be available in Prague, and we intend to implement the system in other large cities in the Czech Republic as well. Until 30th June 2006 during the initial promo the on-line traffic cameras service will be charged CZK 1/minute.


Data services: Eight times higher speed, the same price

The higher data transmission speed of the UMTS network supports also high-speed mobile Internet access via mobile telephone or data card, the transmission speed is up to 384 kbit/s. Customers can enjoy the benefits of the UMTS network without having to pay higher price for the service. The rates charged for the data services in the UMTS network are identical to the rates applicable to the for GPRS based data services.

For more details on the UMTS services and pricing check out www.eurotel.cz, contact our toll free number 800 333 333, or visit a Eurotel brand store. The prices are quoted including VAT (unless stated otherwise).


Additional UMTS information:

Mobile handsets and data cards
All Eurotel customers will be able to use the services and benefits of the UMTS network, no extra activation is needed. All they need to enter the world of UMTS is just a UMTS enabled mobile handset and Eurotel SIM card. Eurotel already offers attractive and affordable mobile handsets enabled for both, GSM as well as UMTS. The price of Sony Ericsson K 600i handset starts at CZK 1. The select Nokia N70 handset offered by Eurotel is priced from CZK 2 995. In December the new generation handset portfolio will be extended by Samsung Z300. The UMTS handsets portfolio will be continuously extended. PCMCIA Merlin U630 data card by Novatel Wireless priced from CZK 995 is now also available.

Coverage
Eurotel?s UMTS network covers the area of Prague and downtown Brno. Next year Eurotel will cover other cities in the Czech Republic as well. When rolling out the signal coverage Eurotel will first cover larger cities and densely populated areas, then towns and areas with less population. Eurotel plans to cover more than 50 % of the Czech population over the next two years. Extensive international connectivity and roaming will be also provided. Eurotel customers will be able to use UMTS services when they travel in almost 40 counties of the world.

Data transmission speed
Initially the maximum data transmission speed in the UMTS network will be 384 kbit/s. At the beginning of the next year Eurotel is going to increase the speed up to 1.8 Mbit/s by implementing the state-of-the-art HSDPA upgrade technology. Within the following two years the speed will continuously grow to 14.4 Mbit/s. In combination with the CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology, now being used by as many as 56 thousand customers, Eurotel will make the high-speed mobile data communication available to more than 80 % of the Czech population. No other operator in the Czech Republic can offer comparable level of coverage, speed and international compatibility of mobile data transmission.

http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Dec2005/2308.htm

[andy]

That's interesting - looks like the competition hots up - I just read this on the news page of a British dealer Scancom, dated 21/11

Europe gets its first 4G network
Forget 3G - it?s old hat now with its sluggish connections, rubbish quality TV and video and snail-like downloads. Nope we are moving to the Czech Republic where, as from yesterday, the inhabitants of a country previously best known for top quality lager, Franz Kafka and not especially politically correct football fans have Europe's first 4G service to play with. Installed by T-Mobile it uses UMTS TD-CDMA technology to deliver download speeds of up to 1Mbps ? two and a half times faster than the UK 3G networks. T-Mobile says it hopes to attract subscribers who will stick the 4G friendly PCMCIA card in their laptops (there?s no 4G phones available for Europe yet) and surf like there is no tomorrow. Interestingly T-Mobile is only charging ?34 per month for the one Meg service, which is a lot cheaper than its 3G rates over in the UK. The service is only available in Prague at the moment, but it is being rolled out across the Republic.

[Effendi]

Wow, that's very interesting, Czech Republic (or at least Prague and Brno) is becoming the most interesting country in EU for mobile technology. They have 3 GSM networks, one CDMA 2000 1x EV-DO network, one TD-CDMA and two W-CDMA networks. All belonging to the 2 main GSM operators (Eurotel and T-Mobile). The only operator with just 1 network is Oskar, recently bought by Vodafone so expect news from it too...