Vodafone Czech Republic a.s., a leading telecommunications company in Czechia, was established in 1999 as Český Mobil. It was granted a free license by the government to operate the third mobile GSM network in the country, originally known as Oskar. The company underwent a name change to Oskar Mobil in September 2004. In 2005, the international telecommunications company Vodafone became the sole shareholder of the company, leading to another name change in November 2005 to Vodafone Czech Republic a.s.
3G Network
The company provides 2G GSM services over the 900 and 1800 MHz bands, and launched 3G UMTS over B1 (2100 MHz) in March 2009 which it upgraded to HSPA+ in October 2011, following with DC-HSPA+ in October 2012. The network was shut down in March 2021.
3G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Status |
|---|---|
|
Shut Down
|
3G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 3G Network
|
Launch
|
|
|
Shutdown of 3G Network
|
Shut Down
|
4G Network
4G LTE initially was launched in December 2013 over the B8 (900 MHz) band as a temporary means of achieving national coverage. B3 (1800 MHz) (20 MHz width) rollout commenced concurrently, followed by B20 (800 MHz) in June 2014. LTE-A 2C aggregation was launched in September 2014, aggregating B3 with B20 to provide 225 Mbps. The company added a 10 MHz B1 (2100 MHz) service in November 2014 to later achieve 300 Mbps peak DL rates using LTE-A 3C aggregation of B1, B3, and B20.
With the implementation of its national B20 (800 MHz) network, Vodafone CZ has been slowly deactivating its B8 (900 MHz) network.
April 2016 saw the introduction of early LTE-A Pro technologies, with 4X4 MIMO successfully implemented in Karlin and Prague and the company advertising peak rates of 375 Mbps. Further trials in November 2016 of LTE-Advanced Pro technology enabled by 4C CA (B1, B3, B7, and B20) with 256QAM and 4x4 MIMO achieved 1.2 Gbps DL data rates.
In May 2017 Vodafone Czech Republic claimed a national first with its deployment of NB-IoT technology on its commercial mobile network over its B20 (800 MHz network).
4G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status | Known EARFCNs |
|---|---|---|---|
|
20
|
Active
|
275,
300
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
1849
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
||
|
10
|
Active
|
6400
|
4G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 4G Network
|
Launch
|
5G Network
Vodafone Czechia launched its 5G network in March 2021 initially using DSS carriers in its n1 (2100 MHz) and n3 (1800 MHz) bands, but later adding dedicated n28 and n78 carriers in May 2022.
5G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
20
|
Active
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
|
|
10
|
Active
|
|
|
100
|
Active
|
5G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 5G Network
|
Launch
|