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Mtel (Bulgaria)

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(Redirected from Mobiltel)
Mobiltel
Mtel-logo.png
Industry mobile telecommunications
Founded 1994 in Sofia, Bulgaria
Headquarters 1 Kukush Str., Sofia, Bulgaria
Key people
Alexander Dimitrov, CEO
Dejan Kastelic, CTO
Brands loop, bob
Services Satellite television, IPTV, Fixed/Mobile telephony, Internet service
provider
Revenue Decrease 364.7 mil. [1] (2015)
Operating income
Increase 42.1 mil. [2] (2015)
Number of employees
3,607 [3] (2016)
Parent Telekom Austria Group
Website www.mtel.bg
Mtel ("????????" or "????" in Bulgarian /network code 284-01/), also known as
"Mobiltel", is the first and largest GSM mobile phone operator in Bulgaria. It has
more than 4.2 million customers. Company was founded in March 1994 but was not
launched commercially until September 1995 (as Citron).[4]
In 2001 M-Tel (the brand then) launched its prepayment sim cards which allow
customers to purchase credits prior to calling friends, this was a great success
and saw the amount of customers using their network increase dramatically.
The company had a market share of about 58% and 3,000,000 clients in September
2004. On 14 September 2006 M-Tel reached 4,000,000 clients. As of May 2006 the
company has 4,400,000 subscribers and its market share fell to 51,1%. Its contract
customers increased to 1,7 mln, while the profit per customer dropped to 9,9 euro
for Q1 2007.[5]
The operator has been owned by Telekom Austria Group since July 2005, when it was
acquired for up to 1.6 billion in one of Central and Eastern Europe's largest
deals and one of the largest foreign investments in Austria. Mobiltel was the first
Bulgarian operator to offer EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA+ and second to offer LTE
services to its clients, with video telephony services being available since 6
March 2006 in the capital Sofia and since mid-July 2006 throughout the Bulgarian
Black Sea resorts.[6]
The company was the official sponsor of Bulgarian football club PFC Levski Sofia.
Since 2005, the company also organizes the strong annual M-Tel Masters chess
tournament, which is attended by six of the world's best International
Grandmasters.
Despite the difficult economic environment affecting the entire IT and Telco
industry in Bulgaria, Mobiltel's performance remains stable with a customer base of
5.3 million. The postpaid subscribers increased from 61% to roughly 66%. Mobiltel's
market share by end Q1/2011 stays at 49.3%.
The Mtel network uses the access code 88. Until 2003, it also used the codes 89 and
87, which had been added as the network had expanded. In mid-2003, however, mobile
numbers in Bulgaria increased by one digit and the M-?el network code returned to
being 88 only.
Mobiltel owns Loop, the largest virtual mobile operator operating in Bulgaria,
specially designed for young customers. In 2011 Mtel created pre-paid service for
cheap telephone calls, SMS and mobile Internet bob, which is available in Austria
and Slovenia too.
In 2012 M-tel was rebranded with a new logo, and the dash in the name was removed
leaving Mtel (????) as shown in the new logo.
On July 28, 2015, Mtel and Max signed a contract for national roaming. This is the
first agreement for sharing networks in the Bulgarian telecom market.
On July 29, 2015, Mobiltel said has agreed to buy cable TV and internet service
provider Blizoo. On September 18, 2015, CPC gave green light of the deal and the
merger was done by the end of the year.
On September 15, 2016, Mtel became the official sponsor of the most successful
Bulgarian football club CSKA Sofia. From 201617 season Mtel became the team's
principal shirt sponsor.
On 14 January 2016 Mtel launched its own pay television sports pack - Mtel Sport,
consisting of two TV channels.
Contents [hide]
1 Network
1.1 Mobile
1.2 Television
1.2.1 IPTV
1.2.2 CATV
1.2.3 DTH
1.2.4 Mtel Now
1.3 Broadband Internet
2 Services
3 References
4 External links
Network[edit]
[icon]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2016)
Mtel has built various types of networks. The company was first to launch GSM,
GPRS, HSPA, HSPA+ and test LTE in Bulgaria. They also have fiber optic internet in
most of the big cities (by recent acquisition of former blizoo). In 2012 after big
commercials Mtel announced DTH. As of 2016 depending on your location Mtel can
offer to you IPTV (marketed as Interactive television), CATV (former blizoo), HSPA,
HSPA+, LTE and fiber internet (up to 1 Gbps).
Mobile[edit]
Television[edit]
IPTV[edit]
Mtel's IPTV is marketed as Interactive television.
CATV[edit]
Mtel acquried blizoo in June 2015 as a result the company now has access to up to
1.5 Million people thanks to blizoo's DVB-C network. Most of the network is FTTB.
DTH[edit]
In 2012 after big commercials Mtel announced DTH.
Mtel Now[edit]
After many unsuccessful tries with mobile IPTV, Mobiltel finally made a
breakthrough with its latest new service called Mtel Now. As of June 2016 it has
been free for current television users (including blizoo's). Mtel Now offers 40
channels, some in HD on all type of devices. The app is available in Google Play
Store and AppStore.
Broadband Internet[edit]
Mtel's first major investment was in Megalan Networks.

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