A TOTAL of 30,000 clients in Slovakia are now using the Magio digital TV service provided by dominant fixed-line operator Slovak Telekom (ST), a subsidiary of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom. This is an increase of 10,000 since April 2008, the SITA newswire reported. The company's vice president for sales and operating activities, Ruediger Schulz, said that as many as 100,000 Slovak households are now able to use its optics-based triple-play services. The operator intends to connect between 250,000 and 260,000 households to its optical network, which is now available in parts of Trenčín, Nitra, Banská Bystrica, Zvolen, Košice, Prešov and Poprad. Other cities such as Bratislava, Žilina and Michalovce are to be connected by the end of the year.
The operator has earmarked Sk2 billion for the construction of the optical network, of which it plans to spend Sk1.2 billion this year and another Sk800 million next year. The company will consider further investments following the present round. Construction of the optical network is focused on big towns, where the firm expects to acquire 450,000 to 500,000 clients. The aim is to construct a complex network in the most populated areas and a combination of optical and metallic cables on the outskirts of towns. Schulz wants Slovak Telekom eventually to replace its metallic network completely with an optical one.
For now, as well as its investments in the optical network, the company is also expanding its metallic network. As many as 320,000 clients currently use its DSL-based high-speed internet connection. What Slovak Telekom calls 4G Internet is accessible in 900 towns and villages in Slovakia.
