Telefónica has entered into an agreement with publishing house Ringier Axel Springer CZ which will create the first GSM virtual operator in the Czech Republic. Services will be offered under the BLESKmobil brand.

"We negotiated with several parties that were interested in operating a virtual operator on the O2 network. I am delighted that our negotiations with the publishing house Ringier Axel Springer CZ have been successful. Starting from November 7th, our network will be available to O2 customers as well as customers of BLESKmobil. BLESKmobil customers will enjoy basic telecommunication services of equally high quality as O2 customers," says Felix Geyr, Telefónica Czech Republic director of Strategy and Business Development.

"When it comes to introducing key innovations to the Czech market, we have always been the first, and we are upholding this tradition - no other GSMoperator here has mustered the courage to make this brave move," he added.

BLESKmobil will offer pay-as-you go services with low-cost calling and text messaging. Anyone interested in cheap calling will be able to buy pre-paid BLESKmobil cards from any of 6,000 newsagents across the Czech Republic. "We are proud to become the first virtual operator in the Czech Republic. We will be offering simple and cheap mobile services via the O2 mobile network," said Libuše Šmuclerová, Ringier Axel Springer CZ CEO.

It is very easy to obtain BLESKmobil services - more than 6,000 newsagents showing the sticker "Zde v prodeji BLESKmobil" [BLESKmobil on sale here] are selling the SIM cardsof the new mobile operator. Customers will be able to retain their existing phone number and transfer it from their current mobile operator.

BLESKmobil offers one simple pay-as-you go tariff with calls costing CZK 2.50 per minute and texts for CZK 1.50 each. The same rates apply for the whole week, during peak and off-peak times. "Many people can do without a broad range of supplementary services, subsidised mobile phones and branded shops. BLESKmobil will offer none of that, but instead will offer extremely low prices. I am confident that the Blesk mobil offer will speak to its customers and that we will soon celebrate our one hundred thousandth customer," added Libuše Šmuclerová.

Contacts
Hany Farghali
Spokesperson
Telefónica Czech Republic, a.s.
public.relations.cz@o2.com
tel: +420 606 02 02 02

About Telefónica Czech Republic

Telefónica Czech Republic is a major integrated operator in the Czech Republic. It is now operating almost eight million lines, both fixed and mobile, making it one of the world's leading providers of fully converged services. The organization offers the most comprehensive portfolio of voice and data services in this country. It is paying special attention to the exploitation of the growth potential, particularly in the data and Internet sector. Telefónica Czech Republic operates the largest fixed and mobile network including a 3rd generation network, CDMA (for data), and UMTS, enabling voice, data and video transmission. Telefónica Czech Republic launched a LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4rd generation mobile communication network as the first operator in the Czech Republic. The new network offers the fastest available mobile Internet nowadays. Telefónica Czech Republic is also a notable provider of ICT services.

About Telefónica

Telefónica is one of the world's largest telecommunications operators by market capitalisation. Its activities are centred mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses, while its broadband business is the key growth driver underpinning both. It operates in 25 countries and has a global customer base of 312 million. Telefónica's growth strategy is focused on the markets in which it has a strong foothold: Spain, Europe and Latin America. Telefónica is a 100% private sector company with its shares listed in Madrid and other stock exchanges and more than 1.5 million individual shareholders.

distributed by