2017 Czech Republic - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Digital Media - Statistics and Analyses

Czech government proposes laws to reduce mobile voice and data charges

The Czech Republic has a sophisticated telecom market, with effective competition in all sectors provided by a number of alternative operators. The incumbent telco O2 Czech Republic remains the dominant player though alternative operators are gaining market share, partly through organic growth and partly though merger and acquisition activity.

O2 Czech Republic, majority owned by the investment firm PPF Group, is facing a challenging task of stabilising revenue in the wake of a gradual customer migration from fixed-line to mobile networks for voice and data services. The company has transitioned itself to face these market challenges, having split into separate divisions and created the CETIN unit to manage the fixed and mobile networks while also operating as a wholesale network provider.

Growth in the Czech Republic’s fixed-line broadband market has slowed in line with higher penetration. The sector has more recently seen stronger growth in the cable sector as the key player UPC continues to upgrade its network to provide far faster services than are available with DSL. UPC’s parent Liberty Global is investing in DOCSIS3.1 technology: 1Gb/s services are expected to be available by the end of 2017. The migration away from DSL has also been prompted by the expansion of fibre networks, which are being built out by a number of telcos. Fixed wireless broadband remains strong, with penetration among the highest in the EU. Widespread broadband access has laid the foundation for a developing internet society, with a range of online services and activities taking place.

The mobile market has attracted investment from a number of major European telcos, including Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone Group and Telefónica. The mobile services provider U:fon was acquired by Nordic Investors and now trades as Nordic Telecom.

All telcos have focused on growing revenue by marketing mobile broadband and other value-added services such as mobile content and applications. To this end they have invested in LTE infrastructure and technologies. LTE coverage reaches about 98% of the population, while technologies including LTE-A and tri-band carrier aggregation are being widely deployed. T-Mobile and O2 are both active in developing services and applications based on 5G.

The Czech Republic’s media market is evolving under the weight of digital TV and convergence trends, with over half the population now receiving TV services digitally. The uptake of IPTV services is growing on the back of more affordable broadband access while the cable TV market has undergone consolidation to create a major player sizeable enough to compete effectively against the telecoms incumbent.

Analogue switch-off is continuing on a regional basis in the free-to-air broadcasting market as the uptake of digital terrestrial TV improves. In March 2017 digital TV was broadcast using the DVB-T2 standard, initially from two transmitting towers.

Covering developments in the market and regulatory environment, this report gives an insight into the evolving Czech fixed-line telecoms and IT markets, offering valuable statistics, profiles of the major operators and infrastructure deployed. The report details the mobile market, providing an overview of the network operators Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2 and Nordic Telekom, as well as developments in technologies and regulatory affairs. In addition the report covers the fixed broadband market, profiling the key players, assessing access platforms and market trends and delivering a variety of insightful statistics as well as a forecast for broadband take-up to 2022.

Key developments:

• Telecom regulator sets out conditions for a 3.6-3.8GHz spectrum auction;
• Refarming of 1800MHz spectrum for LTE use completed in June 2017;
• Government proposes legislation to reduce mobile voice and data charges;
• Regulator presses MNOs to reduce wholesale LTE access rates;
• T-Mobile CR switches on LTE in the 2600MHz band, adding to services in the 800MHz and 1800MHz bands;
• Vodafone CR launches VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling services;
• T-Mobile to close 3G services by 2020;
• DVB-T2 broadcasting is launched from two transmitters;
• O2 CR secures DTT licence to operate its O2 TV Free channel;
• Report update includes the regulator’s 2015 annual report and market reports to November 2016; telcos’ operating and financial data to Q1 2017; recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

O2 Czech Republic, T-Mobile Czech Republic, GTS Czech, Èeské Radiokomunikace, MobilKom, T-Systems Czech Republic, BT, ÈD-Telematika, ÈEZ ICT Services and UPC Èeská republika, Vodafone Czech Republic, Nej TV, RIO Media, Nordic Telecom (MobilKom, U:fon), UPC Czech Republic, DigiTV, CRa, CDG.