MARCH 22, 2007 -- Bratislava-Orange Slovensko, a subsidiary of France Telecom (search for France Telecom), has announced plans to a dense national network of optical connections to households in Slovakia. Orange believes the deployment will give it a few years' head start on its competitor. Orange says it will invest approximately 1 billion SKK (32 million EUR) and cover almost 200,000 households by the end of the year.
The optical connections will bring customers Internet at speeds of tens of megabits per second and will support such services as digital television, video and audio on demand, telephony, and many other services. The new technology will provide customers with these services with a high quality of service: high definition for the TV, high definition for the sound, very high speed for Internet, and support for multiple TVs, all usable simultaneously.
Orange plans to deploy optical connections in 10 Slovak cities. The optical connection will not only give access to a wide range of news services, but it will also increase the value of the real estate. Orange has already signed some authorizations with government organizations and agreements with building owners. Orange will first invest in the cities where deployment will be facilitated.
"We are facing an exciting future when Orange also in Slovakia will turn from a mobile operator to a full service telecommunication operator for households and business. The Orange brand will not only be a mobile brand but a brand for a wide range of services for life and entertainment provided through mobile and fixed optical network. The triple-play concept, i.e., Internet, TV and telephony via one optical line, is just the beginning of this journey," Pavol Lancaric, general manager of Orange Slovensko, said.
Orange has been trialing the triple play concept under the Orange Homebox service name for a few months, covering 15,000 households.
Orange Homebox is a home digital entertainment center including three services for a single monthly fee: Internet at speeds up to 30 Mbits/sec, digital TV and fixed telephony.
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