The Paegas GSM network has added significantly to the number of BTS transmission stations it operates in the last quarter year. "By the end of the third quarter of this year, the number of stations in operation had increased by an average of 15 percent over the previous quarter. Growth in cities was even more substantial, with Prague showing a nearly 30 percent increase since the end of June," said RadioMobil spokeswoman Tereza Kakosová at a recent gathering of journalists. RadioMobil is currently concentrating its efforts on boosting the signal of its Paegas GSM network in cities and within buildings.
RadioMobil invested more than 5 billion crowns in the construction of its network infrastructure in 1966 and 1997 and an additional 3 billion in 1998. Instead of building expensive primary networks linking individual nodes, RadioMobil has chosen to lease links from its parent company, České radiokomunikace. Millions in additional investment is also being funneled into developing information technology that will provide customers with new, cutting-edge services. "We are continually working on new services, because we know that our customers will use them often and gladly. Good examples of this are information channel services based on short messaging technology and, of course, Paegas Internet Call," Kakosová added.
RadioMobil technicians are also ready to begin constructing and operating GSM 1800 technology, which is expected to make its appearance next year. GSM 1800 will enable the Paegas GSM network to begin offering customers the quicker, more varied data transmission that higher-frequency technology makes possible. Above all, however, the introduction of GSM 1800 will provide RadioMobil with more space for increasing network capacity, thus allowing it to keep pace with current growth rates beyond the year 2000.
Comparative growth in the number of Paegas transmission stations during the third quarter of 1998 (30.6.1998 to 30.9.1998)
| Czech Republic | 15 percent |
| Prague | 29 percent |
| Central Bohemia | 12 percent |
| North Bohemia | 14 percent |
| West Bohemia | 14 percent |
| South Bohemia | 11 percent |
| East Bohemia | 15 percent |
| North Moravia | 11 percent |
| South Moravia | 14 percent |
The RadioMobil joint-stock company is the operator of the GSM network called Paegas. Its largest shareholders are České radiokomunikace a.s., with 51 percent, and the international consortium CMobil, which holds a 49 percent share. CMobil is made up of the German operator T-Mobil, the Italian operator TIM, PVT, Telekomunikační montáže Praha and Spořitelní kapitálová společnost.
The Paegas GSM network today covers more than 92 percent of the population of the Czech Republic. As of the end of November, 1998, more than 340,000 customers were using the services of the Paegas GSM network.
Customers can now take their Paegas mobile phones to 59 countries around the world and utilize the roaming services of 108 operators. In the last two months, RadioMobil has increased the number of its roaming partners to include Bahrain, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Iridium satellite system.