Cesky Telekom expands to Germany and Austria

Cesky Telekom expands to Germany and Austria

Former state telecoms company as "backbone carrier"

Vienna/ Prague (pte, Mar 27, 2003 11:56) - Former Czech state telecoms firm Cesky Telekom http://www.ct.cz plans to expand its operations to include Austria, Germany and Slovakia, and position itself as a backbone carrier - providing its own fiberglass network to ISPs and telecommunications firms.

In Austria, Cesky Telekom has already set up its "point of presence" at the Interxion Internet exchange to the north of Vienna. Operations are to begin in the next weeks, with a press conference scheduled for 3 April.

According to media reports, Cesky Telekom, which holds a 51 per cent stake in Czech mobile telecoms firm Eurotel, intends to purchase the remaining 49 per cent from the US Atlantic West consortium. Negotiations with consortium members AT&T and Verizon are reportedly underway. The Czech firm once offered 1.42 million dollars for the shares, but was forced to lower its offer due to a collapse on the market and this offer was then rejected.

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