TDE.L Regulatory News (TDE)

24 Oct 2006 10:30

Telefonica O2 Czech Republic, A.S.24 October 2006 Press release Bratislava 24 October 2006 Telefonica O2 Slovakia has begun preparations for the construction of its ownnetwork Telefonica O2 Slovakia has commenced preparations for the construction of itsown network. During the initial phase, the company will provide services on thebasis of national roaming, but from a long-term perspective, the strategy alsofocuses on the building of the company's own network. Assuming theresponsibility for this task was Martin Skop, who was appointed as the executivedirector for networks. Martin Skop has worked for the companies Nextel and SPT Telecom, where hedirected strategic network development. At Czech Telecom he held the position ofexecutive director for network development and planning. At Telefonica O2 CzechRepublic he has held the position of director for ICT strategy and services. "Martin Skop is an outstanding expert, and I am very pleased that we managed toget him on our term," said Juraj Sedivy, the general manager of Telefonica O2Slovakia. Telefonica Group is among the strongest players on the world market. It'sambition is to achieve the same position in Slovakia as well within anacceptable timeframe. "We will fulfill our internal plans for introducing acommercial offer and putting our own GSM mobile network into operation withinhalf a year of entering the Slovak market. During the initial phase, we will usenational roaming so as to enable our customers to make use of the advantagesconnected with the arrival of a new mobile operator as soon as possible.Telefonica O2 Slovakia also has long-term strategic plans for the Slovak market,so it is natural that we will go forward along the route of building our ownnetwork," says Juraj Sedivy. Contact for further information HANA HEJSKOVA Telefonica O2 Slovakia s.r.o. hana.hejskova@o2.com tel.: +420 271 464 071 Mobile: +420 602 171 651 JURAJ PUCHY AMI Communications Slovakia juraj.puchy@amic.sk tel: 421 2 4341 5709 About the company Telefonica O2 Slovakia, s.r.o. Telefonica O2 Slovakia entered the Slovak mobile operators' market as a resultof the decision of the selection committee of the Telecommunication Office ofthe Slovak Republic from the date 2.8.2006. The licence includes the right touse the frequencies GSM 900 MHz, GSM 1800 MHz, UMTS and FS 29 GHz for a periodof 20 years for the purposes of providing telecommunication services in theSlovak Republic. As part of the international group Telefonica, Telefonica O2 Slovakia belongsto the group O2. The firm will use the brand O2 for all of its marketingactivities in the Slovak Republic. About Telefonica Telefonica O2 Czech Republic is a member of a powerful international group,Telefonica S.A, which operates in 19 countries and whose customer base includesmore than 180 million clients worldwide. Telefonica currently ranks among theworld's most dynamic telecommunications companies with a strong position inWestern Europe and Latin America. In terms of market capitalization, Telefonica S.A. ranks among the globalleaders of the telecommunications industry. Its business activities areprimarily focused on fixed and mobile markets, with broadband regarded as a keyto successful development. About O2Telefonica O2 Czech Republic is part of the O2 Group within Telefonica SA. Itwill adopt the O2 brand for all consumer-facing activities. O2 comprises mobile network operators in the UK and Ireland, along withintegrated fixed/mobile businesses in Germany and the Czech Republic. It alsoowns 50% of the Tesco Mobile and Tchibo Mobilfunk joint venture businesses inthe UK and Germany respectively as well as having 100% ownership of Be, aleading UK fixed broadband provider. In addition, the group includes O2 Airwave,which supplies secure digital communications to the emergency services and otherpublic safety organisations. O2, a Telefonica company, is headquartered in Slough, UK, and has more than 35million customers across Europe. Appendix: Martin Skop Telefonica O2 Slovakia executive director for networks A graduate of Czech Technical University in Prague in the field ofTelecommunications Technology, he joined the company Eurotel in 1994. There, heworked on the development of data networks. From 1996, after the founding ofNextel, he held managerial positions for network development and for productdevelopment and management. After the merger of Nextel and SPT Telecom, he directed strategic networkdevelopment, and from 2004 until June 2006 he worked at CZECH TELECOM in theposition of executive director for network development and planning. He came to Telefonica O2 Slovakia from its parent company, Telefonica O2 CzechRepublic, from the position director for ICT (Information and CommunicationTechnologies) strategy and services. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange