ČESKÝ TELECOM INCREASES INTERNET SPEED FOR 70% OF ALL CUSTOMERS
13.4.2006
To this day, ČESKÝ TELECOM has already increased connection speed for 210 thousand ADSL service subscribers. Therefore, by the end of April 95% of all customers will have had their connection speeds increased. The remaining 5% will have their connection speeds boosted over the course of May of this year. Since this Monday, subscribers who have received this boost have been informed of the change by means of a new automatic voice message system.
"From organisational and technical perspectives, the process of migrating 300,000 customers is a very difficult task and we are glad that so far everything has been going according to plan. A speed boost of up to four times the original speed is being provided for all existing customers whose telephone lines have the technical parameters to allow for it. At this time, 96% of all lines are capable of handling the change," says Martin Žabka, Press Spokesman, ČESKÝ TELECOM, adding, "The new speed will be provided for subscribers automatically, free of charge and now with an automatic voice message service notifying them of the change."
On average, ČESKÝ TELECOM receives over 8,000 orders per week. 99% of customers use the opportunity to get connected by means of a self-installation package. The average installation period is then around seven days.
In addition to a purely technical speed increase, ČESKÝ TELECOM has decided to broaden the method by which it is informing clients of the speed boost. A new voice message system has been launched in order to familiarize all INTERNET EXPRES subscribers of the new qualitative parameters of their connections in the form of a phone call to the relevant fixed line. The voice system thus complements the classic email and letter systems that ČESKÝ TELECOM has been using to keep its customers informed.
Since February 1, 2006, ČESKÝ TELECOM has boosted its broadband Internet connection speeds considerably. For instance, the connection speed of the basic INTERNET EXPRES IMPULS service (128/64 kb/s) has been quadrupled to 512/128 kb/s and ČESKÝ TELECOM now offers the INTERNET EXPRES IDEAL service with a speed of 2 Mb/s at its original price.
Martin Zabka
Spokesperson
ČESKÝ TELECOM, a. s., member of the Telefónica Group is the leading telecommunications company in the Czech Republic. Through its subsidiary company Eurotel Praha, spol. s r.o., it also has a significant presence in the Czech mobile services market. Further information about the firm and the services it offers is available at www.telecom.cz, which was rated as BestWeb 2003 in the WebTop100 survey.
Signum Temporis has consistently awarded ČESKÝ TELECOM for being one of the domestic capital market's most transparent firms in terms of providing information. Based on an open vote of specialists, members of the press and a nine-member committee, ČESKÝ TELECOM placed first in 2003, just as it did in 2001.
ČESKÝ TELECOM ranks among the most prominent firms on the Czech capital market in terms of capitalization and trading volumes. Its shares are also traded on the London Stock Exchange in the form of GDRs. ČESKÝ TELECOM's credit rating is the highest a Czech corporation can receive from top international rating agencies.
About Telefónica
Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world in terms of market capitalisation. Its activities are centered mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses with broadband as the key tool for the development of both.
The company has a significant presence in 19 countries and a customer base that amounts more than 180 million accesses around the world. Telefónica has a strong presence in Latin America, where the company focuses an important part of its growth strategy.
Telefónica is a 100% listed company, with more than 1.5 million direct shareholders. Its share capital currently comprises 4,921,130,397 ordinary shares traded on the Spanish Stock Market (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia) and on those in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, New York, Lima, Buenos Aires and São Paulo.
