Vodafone Czech Unit Stops 3G Launch
PRAGUE -(Dow Jones)- The Czech unit of Vodafone Group, Thursday said it has stopped plans to launch its third-generation UMTS technology, citing excessive costs.
"We've decided to cancel the planned launch of the UMTS network because the costs to build it are too high and services it offers to our customers don't generate sufficient interest," Vodafone spokesman Jakub Hrabovsky told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview.
Vodafone is the number-three cellular operator on the Czech market, behind Czech units of Spain's Telefonica and Germany's T-Mobile International. Almost all 10 million Czechs use mobile phones at present.
Telefonica and T-Mobile already offer limited UMTS services in the Czech Republic. Vodafone had planned to launch the service later this year or early 2007. UMTS stands for universal mobile telecommunications system, commonly known as third generation, or 3G.
Hrabovsky said the company has made "only small investments" in the actual building of its UMTS network but spent 2 billion koruna ($1=CZK22.8) for the license.
Vodafone bought its UMTS license from the Czech state in 2005 and agreed to launch the service by 2008.
Czech units of Telefonica and T-Mobile each paid CZK3.9 billion for their UMTS licenses.
Hrabovsky said Vodafone will explore other technologies, including Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld or DVB-H, which allows television broadcasting streaming into certain types of cellular handsets.
T-Mobile Czech Republic is determined to continue to develop its 3G UMTS network which it launched last year, company's spokesman Zdenek Marsal said.
"We currently offer only UMTS (wireless) Internet services in Prague and have several thousands users," Marsal said.
Eurotel, the cellular arm Telefonica, launched both data and voice 3G UMTS services in Prague in late 2005.
The company hasn't released its 3G UMTS customer numbers.
However, Eurotel has 80,000 users of its broadband wireless service, using code division multiple access, or CDMA, a rival UMTS technology, which it launched in August 2004.
Company Web site: http://www.vodafone.cz
-By Leos Rousek, Dow Jones Newswires; +420 221 085 273; leos.rousek@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires"
Posted to the site on 20th July 2006