TDE.L Regulatory News (TDE)

14 Feb 2006 09:30

Cesky Telecom A.S.14 February 2006 > PRESS RELEASE - 14. 02. 2006> THE CZECH REPUBLIC HAS 300,000 ADSL SUBSCRIBERS The number of people who connect to broadband Internet through fixed telephonelines has surpassed another significant milestone. Today, CESKY TELECOMannounced the 300,000th ADSL subscriber. As a bonus, the operator is awardingthis person with a free one-year connection through the INTERNET EXPRES MAXIservice and a Dell Precision M70 notebook with a Pentium M processor. "While the Czech Republic had its first 100,000 ADSL subscribers after 22 monthsand the second after 8, the third was acquired in merely 5 months. We are proudto say that this is a huge success and we are happy to have made a hugecontribution to this excellent result," said Simon Burckhardt, CESKY TELECOM'sChief Marketing Officer, with unhidden optimism and adding, "It is a verypositive sign that in comparison with cable or Wi-Fi or mobile telephoneconnections ADSL technology has maintained its popularity and remains in firstplace. Customers themselves have confirmed that it is an excellent choice." Thisprogress is achieved just 8 months after the acquisition of CESKY TELECOM byTelefonica. CESKY TELECOM is now leveraging on the proven track record ofTelefonica to extract full potential from the broadband opportunity in the CzechRepublic. Broadband Internet is now available in 1,354 localities of the Czech Republic,which means that over 90 percent of all of CESKY TELECOM's telephone lines arenow covered. "Increasing the number of localities in which INTERNET EXPRES canbe used is still our main priority," says company Spokesman Martin Zabka. CESKYTELECOM began offering broadband Internet on March 3, 2003. At that time, thistype of connection (ADSL) was only available in Prague, Brno and Ostrava, whichmeant less than 44 percent of all telephone lines in the Czech Republic. In addition to growth in the number of localities and clients, a recent surveyof the users themselves gives proof to the popularity of broadband Internetconnections. The survey indicated that customers who have broadband Internet athome spend an average of 14 hours a week using it. On the contrary, domesticdial-up connection users spend an average of only four and a half hours a weeksurfing. Both of these groups use the Internet primarily for sending email (92%)and looking for a variety of information (98%). With regards to the currentacceleration of connection speeds, CESKY TELECOM representatives expect anincreasing tendency for subscribers to use their computers and the Internet as agenuine multimedia device where they can easily listen to online radio, watchfilms and play challenging online games with fast response times. Two weeks ago, the Czech Republic's largest telecommunications operator made itsbroadband connection speeds up to four times faster. For instance, the basicINTERNET EXPRES IMPULS service has been increased from 128/64 kb/s to 512/128 kb/s and the INTERNET EXPRES IDEAL service now provides a download speed of 2 Mb/s, and in all cases the prices remain the same as they were before. Incomparison with other European countries, broadband Internet from CESKY TELECOMis at the absolute peak in terms of its speed-price ratio. For further information, please contact: MARTIN ZABKAPress SpokesmanTel: +420 271 463 359Fax: +420 271 469 896e-mail: tiskovy.odbor@ct.cz CESKY TELECOM, a. s., a member of the Telefonica Group, is the leadingtelecommunications company in the Czech Republic. Through its subsidiary companyEurotel Praha, spol. s r.o., it also has a significant presence in the Czechmobile services market. Further information about the firm and the services itoffers is available at www.telecom.cz, which was rated as BestWeb 2003 in theWebTop100 survey. Signum Temporis has consistently awarded CESKY TELECOM for being one of thedomestic capital market's most transparent firms in terms of providinginformation. Based on an open vote of specialists, members of the press and anine-member committee, CESKY TELECOM placed first in 2003, just as it did in2001. CESKY TELECOM ranks among the most prominent firms on the Czech capital marketin terms of capitalization and trading volumes. Its shares are also traded onthe London Stock Exchange in the form of GDRs. CESKY TELECOM's credit rating isthe highest a Czech corporation can receive from top international ratingagencies. About Telefonica Telefonica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world interms of market capitalisation. Its activities are centered mainly on thefixed and mobile telephony businesses with broadband as the key tool for thedevelopment of both. The company has a significant presence in 19 countries and a customer base thatamounts more than 180 million accesses around the world. Telefonica has astrong presence in Latin America, where the company focuses an importantpart of its growth strategy. Telefonica is a 100% listed company, with more than 1.5 million directshareholders. Its share capital currently comprises 4,921,130,397 ordinaryshares traded on the Spanish Stock Market (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao andValencia) and on those in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, New York, Lima,Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange