WORLDWIDE MARKET RESEARCH REPORT - CISE

EC/IST FP6 Project No 026920
Work Package: 6
Type of document: Report
Date: 20.12.2007
File name: OP_WP6_D37_V1.0.doc Version: 1.0
Title: Worldwide Market Research Report 123 / 356
Minsk. A domestic cellular telephone system operated in Minsk, but only 1 person out of
1,000 owned a cellular phone in 1998. By 2000, the country had 9 internet service providers.
However, the number of personal computers in the country was very low.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria has the highest penetration of telephone service in Eastern Europe, at 38.47%. The
network is operated by the state-owned Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC). In
1998, it replaced antiquated facilities with up-to-date equipment and connected major cities
with digital exchanges, satellite ground stations, fiber-optic lines, and digital microwave
networks in a $300 million project funded by international investors. Residential telephone
development will reach EU standards by 2008. There is analog cellular telephone network
operated by the Mobifon company. The Bulgarian company, Mobiltel, operates a digital
cellular telephone network, and the country has many small, unregulated, internet service
providers.
Croatia
Telecommunications services in Croatia are modern, although they lag behind those of
Western Europe and the United States. Telephone service is provided by Croatian Telecom
(HT), which has invested heavily in improving telecommunications. Although some domestic
lines are still analog, they are being replaced by digital technology with a capacity of
2,200,000 telephone lines. The international telephone service is completely digital, and its
main switch is located in Zagreb. A project is under way to install fiber-optic cables
throughout the country and connect them with Slovenia. Currently there are 220,000
kilometers of fiber-optic cables connecting 4 main Croatian cities and 35 countries.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic has a rapidly-modernizing communications infrastructure. In the first
few years after the transition from communism, the installation of telephone lines by the state
company was still difficult. However, the increased entry of private telecommunication
companies and the growing popularity of mobile telephones has provided a way to sidestep