TDE.L Regulatory News (TDE)

3 Sep 2008 10:00



O2 Breaking the Mould of Mobile Telephony Rules

The New Offer O2 Fér Brings Simplicity and Fairness Against Customer

Bratislava, September 3, 2008

By introducing a new offer O2 Fér, Telefónica O2 Slovakia is breaking the mould of mobile communication rules in Slovakia. Simplicity and fairness are becoming the key principles of mobile telephony. Simplicity means equal prices for calling during the day and also night, during business days and also weekends, to numbers in all networks in the Slovak Republic. Fairness brings the cancellation of obligatory monthly fees, so the customer will pay only for what he/she really uses. The new offer O2 Fér does not make any differences among customers. It brings the same benefits to all, regardless of whether they recharge their credit or pay for services used based on an invoice. The new offer is a reaction to the requests of the Slovak customers, who want a fair approach and a reduction of call prices from their operator.

"We have decided to break the mould of the mobile communication rules and standards in Slovakia. O2 Fér brings what according to our surveys Slovak customers expect - simple mobile telephony and a fair approach by the operator. We have cancelled the obligatory monthly fee, so you pay only for what you really use. You call numbers in all networks in the Slovak Republic at an equal price, which is really convenient. And you do not pay for calls to numbers in your own network after the third minute. With our offer, we are telling the customer - call and don't think," stated the Chief Executive Officer of Telefónica O2 Slovakia Juraj Šedivý.

No Monthly Fees

The customers of O2 Fér will pay only for what they really spend. O2 Fér does not force the customer to plan how many minutes he/she spends each month. The customer does not pay any obligatory monthly fee. From the first minute on, he/she calls at the same price per minute of call - regardless of when or which network he/she calls. Thus, the customers are able to choose whether they want to pay for O2 Fér continuously as it suits them or in regular monthly intervals. In the first case, the price of services used is deducted from the credit, which he/she can recharge at any time through coupons, in the ATMs network or through the Internet. The second option can be chosen by those preferring regular monthly payment of invoice. Customers, who opt for invoicing, will pay an initialisation advance of SKK 605 VAT incl. when activating O2 Fér.

Extra Bundles Full of Benefits

With extra bundles the customers can communicate even more conveniently. To the O2 Fér offer, the customer can select bundles of convenient minutes, SMS, data. The customer only needs to activate:

100 minutes to all networks in Slovakia for SKK 305 VAT incl. to call all numbers only at SKK 3.05 /min,

100 minutes in O2 Slovakia network for SKK 95 VAT incl. to call numbers in the O2 Slovakia network only at SKK 0.95 /min,

100 SMS for SKK 155 VAT incl. to send SMS to all networks in Slovakia only at SKK 1.55

10 MB of data only for SKK 95 and 1 MB of data will be charged by SKK 9.50 VAT incl..

Convenient minutes, SMS or data can be freely combined during one invoicing period and activated also several times if needed. Should the customer decide to pay for O2 Fér by credit recharging, he/she can activate another bundle only after using up the previous bundle of the same type.

Freedom In Handset Selection - No Penalties Or 2-Year Commitment

Along with the new offer O2 Fér, Telefónica O2 Slovakia brings a wider selection of mobile handsets at interesting prices. Starting from today, the customers can purchase any mobile handset from the offer of O2 also by means of instalments directly in the O2 shop. In this way, also expensive luxurious high-end handsets will become available to all customers. After paying a down payment of 10 % of the handset price, the customer will pay the remaining amount in 12 monthly instalments without any additional charges. This means that purchase of a handset is not connected with the use of operator's services. Owing to this, the customer will be able, at any time in the future, to use the offer of O2 or another mobile operator without having to pay any high penalties for a subsidized handset. The customers do not have to repay their handset by means of as much as two-year commitment and inconvenient prices of calling after the promotion offer terminates. When buying a handset in cash or through the eShop, the customer obtains a significant price discount.

No Charges For Calls To O2 Network After Third Minute

The customer who will activate O2 Fér will call free of any charges numbers in O2 Slovakia network already after the third minute. If they had activated any of the voice bundles, this benefit is applied after using up the bundle minutes. By means of free calling within its own network, Telefónica O2 Slovakia wants to thank all its customers and simultaneously strengthen the community of those, who decide to use O2 Fér.

Call And Don't Think!

With O2 Fér, the O2 customers call the numbers in all fixed and also mobile networks in the Slovak Republic at the same price of SKK 4 /min VAT incl.. Owing to this, the customer always knows exactly how much he/she pays for calling. Calling during the day is for the O2 Fér customer equally convenient as calling overnight or during weekends. For the customer this means that with one handset and one SIM card he/she will make all his/her calls without having to think which network he/she is calling at the given moment.

SKK 500 (€ 16.60) For Number Transfer

Each customer, who will ask for a transfer of his/her number to the O2 Fér program, will get a bonus of SKK 500. In case of invoice payment, the customer's first 5 invoices will be reduced by the amount of SKK 100. Should the customer choose credit recharging, he/she will get an additional credit of SKK 100 in the first five recharges exceeding SKK 200. This is to compensate for the penalty that the other two operators require their customers to pay in form of the number portability fee. To the contrary, O2 provides number portability free of any charges.

Other Benefits

Together with O2 Fér, the customer will be also activated international calls, services CLIP and CLIR, Internet and data services, voice mail and information on missed calls.

SMS And MMS

In addition to convenient calling, with the O2 Fér program the customers can send SMS at a unified price of SKK 2 VAT incl. and MMS at SKK 9 VAT incl. to numbers in all networks in the Slovak Republic and also abroad.

For more details on the new and break-through offer O2 Fér go to the Internet page www.sk.o2.com.

The O2 Fér service can be activated through the following sales channels:

Internet O2 Shop at www.o2shop.sk

O2 brand shops 

wide distribution network of partners shops and partner dealers around all of Slovakia

free O2 line 0800 02 02 02

Telefónica O2 Slovakia - contacts

All press releases of Telefónica O2 Slovakia are available on our web site: www.sk.o2.com.

About the company Telefónica O2 Slovakia, s.r.o.

Telefónica O2 Slovakia entered the Slovak market of mobile operators on the basis of the decision issued by the selection committee of the Telecommunication Authority of the SR as of 25.8.2006. The license includes the rights to use the frequencies GSM 900 MHz, GSM 1800 MHz, UMTS and 28/29 GHz for the period of 20 years for the purpose of providing telecommunication services in the Slovak Republic. The company launched its commercial operation on 2.2.2007. The company is gradually introducing the offer for the whole spectrum of customers. Within the international group Telefónica, Telefónica O2 Slovakia belongs to the group Telefónica Europe. 

About the company Telefónica Europe

The company Telefónica Europe consists of the mobile networks operators in Great Britain and Ireland, and also of integrated operators of fixed and mobile networks in Germany and the Czech Republic. All these operators present themselves to their local customers under the brand-name Telefónica. Telefónica Europe is the holder of 50% share in the joint stock companies Tesco Mobile in Great Britain and Tchibo Mobilfunk in Germany; At the same time it is also 100% holder of the company Be, the leader in providing broad band services in Great Britain. To the group also belongs the operator of fixed and mobile services on the island Man - the company Manx Telecom. 

Telefónica Europe, belonging to the group Telefónica, has its headquarters in Slough in Great Britain, it has more then 40 million customers in fixed and mobile networks.

About the company Telefónica S.A.

Telefónica is, from the point of view of the market capitalization, one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world. Its business activities are mainly aimed at fixed and mobile telephone markets, while the key tool for development of both it considers the broad band connection.

The company extensively operates in 23 countries where it has a 212 million customer base.

All the stock of the company Telefónica is quoted in the stock exchange, while more than 1.5 million of direct shareholders are sharing them. At present the basic capital is divided among 4,921, 130,397 ordinary shares traded in the Spanish stock exchange (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia) and in the stock exchanges of London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokio, New York, Lime, Buenos Aires and São Paulo.