First 3G UMTS Service in Bulgaria by Mobiltel

Europe : M-Tel is the first operator in Bulgaria to announce the technical launch of an UMTS network which supports innovative video services and wireless broadband access. Thus M-Tel reconfirmes its innovation leadership for mobile communications in Bulgaria.

Inset shows Mobitel staff demonstrating the UMTS capabilities.

Mobiltel entered the world of the mobile communications of the third generation in February this year when EDGE was introduced. Now M-Tel made already the next step in the wireless speed race with UMTS. UMTS makes it possible for Mobiltel to offer new innovative communications services to its clients. Video calls, very fast broadband internet connections and participating from everywhere in video conferencing will be possible with the UMTS connections of Mobiltel. Mobiltel proved this today by demonstrating the first video call within Bulgaria and with the Bulgarian famous painter Stoimen Stoilov in Vienna. Beside that the quality of the speech even improves further. The company announced today that it will start offering commercial services the coming months.

Josef Vinatzer, CEO of Mobiltel: “We have a license for UMTS for twenty years. For us it means twenty years commitment to our clients that they will be able to choose as the first ones for the best services mobile communications can offer. Mobiltel builds upon the experience of mobilkom austria. This member of the mobilkom austria group was the first operator in Europe to launch UMTS services in September 2002. The UMTS technology works already very well in a major part of Sofia. There is no doubt in my mind that in the near future services based on the fast UMTS technology, like very fast broad band internet access, will be an accepted and appreciated mobile service.”

UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) is a very fast mobile communications technology developed especially for services which need a high-speed data transfer. Therefore with UMTS it is possible to receive and send videos, or to make in real time video calls, video conferences and send video messages.

About Mobiltel
Mobiltel has been recognized as the mobile communications market leader in Bulgaria and one of the most successful mobile operators in Europe. Today the Company has more than 62% market share and serves more than 3.3 million subscribers. Today the Company is the only Bulgarian mobile operator, supporting EDGE. In 2005 the operator won the only UMTS A Class license tender in Bulgaria for a 20-year term. In July 2005 Mobiltel joined the mobilkom austria group.