New AMR Technology Will Bring the Best Sound to Paegas Network

• The total number of cells in the GSM Paegas network increased by 66% in 2000
• Last year, RadioMobil built and put into operation more than 750 new BTSs
• The new voice transmission technology offers wider possibilities, as it is not bound to telephones
• Thanks to the AMR, the improved quality of calls will be noticeable even in areas with a lower level of signal reception

Last year, RadioMobil increased the number of cells in the GSM Paegas network by 66 per cent. The number of base transceiver stations (BTSs) grew in the course of a single year by more than 750. â?śDuring only 12 months the number of cells of the GSM Paegas network increased by two thirds. A significant proportion of them is in the 1 800 MHz band which we use mainly in busy areas, that is mainly in cities,â?ś says the Managing Director of RadioMobil Roland Mahler and remarks: â?śThis is evidenced also by the confirmation of fulfilment of all licence conditions set by the Czech Telecommunication Office as of 31 December 2000.â?ť

When building the GSM Paegas network, RadioMobil has always put the greatest emphasis on the quality of the services provided, their availability for as many users as possible, and the perspective of applied technologies. This exactly is the reason why the company has decided to implement the newest standard to the GSM Paegas network that will improve voice transmission and Adaptive Multirate (AMR) coverage. â?śWe are aware that the requirements of our customers are constantly increasing. We always do our best to meet such requirements and very often we are even ahead of the GSM development or are at the head of it. After all, that is why we have decided to get ready for the coming of the AMR technology and to offer it to our customers as soon as possible,â?ť said the Managing Director of RadioMobil Roland Mahler.

The total investment in the implementation of AMR is almost 500 million crowns. A part of the solution is also the support of the EFR that will be also implemented in the GSM Paegas network before the implementation of the AMR standard. RadioMobil expects to further expand the possibilities brought by the AMR. The Adaptive Multirate is a brand new standard defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) that considerably exceeds the existing enhanced full rate (EFR) standard and brings a substantial improvement in the quality of transmitted calls, even in areas with a lower level of signal reception where the older EFR technology cannot be used. Thanks to the AMR, the improvement in the quality of calls is noticeable with all types of mobile phones, because this is an improvement in functionality of the whole network that is not bound to particular mobile phones.

As opposed to the previous speech encoding systems (FR â?" Full Rate, EFR â?" Enhanced Full Rate and HR â?" Half Rate) that work with a fixed speed and a constant error correction level, the AMR dynamically adapts on the basis of reception and capacity conditions of the GSM network. There is a significant improvement in comparison with the EFR at a low signal level, or in the case of great interference. In such cases, the AMR shows its qualities, it switches to a higher speed (FR channel) and dynamically increases error correction. The AMR secures a very good call quality even in such conditions when the call is practically unserviceable.

AMR is characterised by:
- high error resistance in the standard FR mode (improvement by 4 to 6 dB)
- significant improvement in the case of dynamic changes in reception conditions (by 1.5 grade out of 5 as opposed to EFR)
- under good conditions by delivering a quality on the level of a fixed telephone line at a half channel consumption (HR mode)

RadioMobil intensively co-operates with the present GSM technology suppliers in as quick an implementation of AMR in the Paegas network as possible. This will bring a significant improvement in the quality of voice transmission even under poor reception conditions, which is impossible with the EFR system.

The joint-stock company RadioMobil is the operator of a GSM 900/1800 MHz network called Paegas. Since 1996, when RadioMobil entered the Czech market and brought in competition, it obtained almost two million customers. RadioMobil sells prepaid services under the brand Paegas Twist, which is the most successful prepaid service in the Czech market, providing its users with a whole range of services such as data and fax connection, GSM Banking based on the SIM Toolkit standard, Paegas Assistant services, access to WAP services and furthermore it offers a free e-mail ClickBox Easy. Paegas Click is another brand of RadioMobil, focused on customers with Internet or WAP access. At www.click.cz they can easily configure services as well as for instance use a comprehensive e-mail box based on the unified messaging technology.

RadioMobil belongs to the Deutsche Telekom Group - one of the worldâ??s biggest telecommunication operators. Through its subsidiary company T-Mobil (Deutsche Telekomâ??s mobile operator) it owns 87.3 % in the consortium CMobil. Other shareholders of CMobil are: STET Mobile Holdings N.V. (12 %) and PVT a.s. (0.7 %). The international consortium CMobil is, together with Ceské radiokomunikace, a shareholder of RadioMobil. In 2001 CMobil is going to enforce an option that will increase its stake in RadioMobil from the existing 49 % to 60.8 %.

Today, the Paegas GSM network covers over 99% of the Czech population and 99.8% of first class roads. RadioMobil customers may use their mobile phones in networks of 201 operators from 89 countries of the whole world (122 various locations altogether). By the end of 2000, more than 1,850,000 customers were using Paegas services.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.