- Paegas Twist features the Motorola d520 and Paegas SIM Toolkit card
- Cost of purchasing, operating mobile telephones lower than fixed lines
- Low call rates and up to 100 KÄŤ bonus when purchasing rechargeable coupons
Beginning April 15, 1999, the Paegas Twist set featuring the Motorola d520, an SIM card supporting the SIM Toolkit standard and 400 KÄŤ of introductory credit, which can be utilized down to the last haler, will be available. â?śThe amount of initial investment needed for users of Paegas services is very low. After you subtract the introductory 400 KÄŤ credit the Paegas Twist set, including the telephone, comes to 4,099 KÄŤ for a full year, which is only a few hundred crowns more than the cost of installing a fixed line, which is 3,500 crowns. On top of that, you also need to purchase a telephone. In addition, Paegas Twist users are not required to pay any monthly fees,â?ť said RadioMobil spokeswoman Tereza Kakosová.
â?śPrepaid services have also become the main engine behind sales of mobile telephones in the first quarter of this year. In fact, two of three new customers have chosen the Paegas GSM network over our competitionâ??s analog and digital networks,â?ť Kakosová added. She continued: â?śMobile-telephone penetration in the Czech Republic has jumped more than 1 percent in the last three months alone, primarily thanks to the Paegas network.â?ť
The 500 KÄŤ reduction in the price of Paegas Twist sets comes on the heels of a decision in April to extend the validity of Twist coupons from six to 12 months. RadioMobil prepaid services can also lay claim to offering the lowest per-minute rates of any service of its type in the Czech Republic. In addition, customers save even more when purchasing coupons with higher values. Those who purchase a 750 KÄŤ coupon instead of the lowest denomination available, 400 KÄŤ, receive a 50 KÄŤ bonus. The purchase of a 1,900 KÄŤ coupon is accompanied by a bonus of 100 KÄŤ. In other words, call rates are further reduced by more than 5 percent.
In addition to the Motorola d520, the Paegas Twist set is available with the Alcatel One Touch Club, for 5,999 KÄŤ, the Siemens C25 miniature dual handset, for 7,499 KÄŤ and the Nokia 5110 for 8,999 KÄŤ.
RadioMobil, a.s. is the operator of the GSM network called Paegas. Its largest shareholders are ÄŚeské radiokomunikace a.s., with 51 percent, and the international consortium CMobil, which holds a 49 percent stake. CMobil comprises the German operator T-Mobil (Deutsche Telekom), Italyâ??s TIM, and PVT, TMP and SKS. The Paegas GSM network today provides coverage to 96 percent of the Czech population. Customers can take their Paegas GSM mobile telephones to 65 countries around the world and utilize the roaming services of 121 operators. More than 450,000 customers were using Paegas GSM services as of the end of March, 1999.