Czech Republic - Telecom Market, Statistics, Infrastructure, Operators, Regulations and Analyses

The Czech Republic, which adopted the shortened name of Czechia in June 2016, 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 increasing 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 and fibre sectors. The key player UPC has steadily upgraded its network to provide faster services based on DOCSIS3.1 technology. The company owner Liberty Global in July 2019 completed the sale of its businesses in several Central and eastern European markets to Vodafone Group, which will strengthen the latter's ability to offer converged services.

The migration away from DSL has largely been due to 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. Indeed, O2 Czech Republic expected that about half of its broadband customers would be on fixed wireless by 2020.

Widespread broadband access has laid the foundation for a developing internet society, with a range of online services and activities taking place.

Covering developments in the market and regulatory environment, this report provides insights into the evolving fixed-line telecoms and IT markets of the Czech Republic, offering statistics, profiles of the major operators and an assessment of infrastructure deployed. This report provides an overview of the country's fixed broadband market, profiling the key players, assessing access platforms and market trends and delivering a variety of insightful statistics as well as broadband subscriber forecasts.

Key developments:

• O2 CR planning to invest CZK22 billion in network infrastructure through to 2022;
• Government's ICT strategy developing cost savings;
• Dial Telecom quadruples international capacity;
• Report update includes the regulator's annual reports and market reports to December 2018; telcos' operating and financial data to Q2 2019; recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

O2 CR, T-Mobile CR, GTS Czech, Èeské Radiokomunikace, MobilKom, T-Systems Czech Republic, BT, ÈD-Telematika, ÈEZ ICT Services, UPC Èeská Republika.