Mobile Operator Comparisons 2011

The three mobile phone providers on the Czech market are O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone. It may not be a wide choice, but it at least makes selection easier. All the providers offer pre-paid and monthly contract plans with the possibility of Internet connection. In all cases the pre-paid plans are pretty straightforward. However, the contract plans differ in terms of requirements and what they offer, all of which will be described below.

O2

Pre-Paid:
There are two pre-paid plans each with different rates. If you send mostly SMS then the O2 NA!PIŠTE is recommended. The charge is 1.90 CZK per SMS, 6.90 CZK for MMS and 6.60 CZK per minute of calling. If you prefer speaking than O2 NA!HLAS might be a better option. SMS are more expensive at 2.60 CZK, but the calling is 5.50 CZK. MMS are still 6.90 CZK. O2 also offers a number of recharge methods.



Contracts:
O2 offer nine monthly plans under the rubric “Neon”. Three of the cheaper ones are Neon ‘S´, Neon ‘M´ and Neon´ ‘L´. Neon ‘S´ is 300 CZK with 40 minutes of calls and free SMS and MMS on weekends to other O2 numbers. Calls are charged at 5.60 CZK per minute; SMS are 1.60 CZK, and MMS are 5.90 CZK. Neon ‘M´ is 450 CZK for 80 minutes of calls and free calls to O2 numbers on the weekends. Otherwise, calls cost 5 CZK. SMS are also 1.60 CZK. Neon “L´ costs 650 CZK for 120 minutes of calls and free calls on weekends and weekdays at off-peak times. Call and SMS rates are the same as Neon ‘M´. MMS for all three tariffs are 5.90 CZK. Unused minutes cannot be transferred to the next month.


Documents to open O2:
To sign a contract with O2, you need to have permanent residency. When signing the contract you need to bring your passport.

Internet:
O2 offer three Internet packages, which can be used with either pre-paid or contract plans. The first is the daily rate. For 30 CZK you get up to 30 MB of data. For longer periods there are the Start and Basic packages. Start gives you 150 MB per month at 150 CZK per month or 40 CZK per week with a prepaid card. Basic allows up to 500 MB per month for 300 CZK  a month with a contract or 75 CZK per week with pre-paid.


Cancelling:
According to the website it is possible to cancel, but as to how it was impossible to get a straight answer.

Customer Service:
Branch: Václavské náměstí 57, Prague 1
Comments: This was more like it. I took a number and was served straight away. The guy was able to explain what I wanted very quickly until I asked whether someone with a long-term visa could take out a contract. He was unsure and disappeared after a while saying that it was possible. Checking later I found that the answer was, in fact, that it is not possible. So no points for accuracy.

Website: http://www.o2.cz/osobni/en/
The information is clearly laid out and easy to navigate. Furthermore, it is easy to answer questions using the search option.

Pre-Paid:
T-Mobile offer three prep-paid options under the name Twist. Twist Povídám as the name suggest is for people who make a lot of calls. Calls are 6.90 CZK a minute, SMS 2.90 CZK, and MMS 10 CZK. The advantage of this plan is that after the first five minutes of calling all subsequent calls made to T-Mobile numbers are free. This benefit only applies to a single day. The second plan, Twist Posílám, has the same rates as Twist Povídám. The difference is that after the fifth SMS, subsequent messages within the T-Mobile network are free. Again, this benefit is on a day-to-day basis. The final plan is Twist Přátelé. With this you can select five numbers that you can call at a reduced rate of 3.50 CZK per minute and send SMS for 1.50 CZK. Calls and messages to other numbers are 7.00 CZK and 3.50 CZK, respectively. MMS cost 10 CZK. Each plan can be recharged at an ATM, with a prepaid card, at co-operating shops or through bank transfer. The means and the amounts can all be here (in Czech).

Contracts:
There are four price brackets: 300, 500, 750 and 1000 CZK per month. This is how much credit worth of calls and SMS you have per month. Call rates for each bracket are 5.90, 4.90, 3.90, and 2.90 CZK, respectively. SMS are 1.20 CZK and MMS are 4.90 CZK. For long-term customers, there is the option HIT which can give you up to 20% off. However, you have to be contracted for at least two years.

T-Mobile allows you to transfer unused call time to the next month. For example, if you have the 500 CZK per-month plan and at the next of one month you still have 200 CZK worth of call time then you can transfer this to the next month. Furthermore, it's cumulative, if in that second month you make only 400 CZK calls than 300 CZK will be transferred. (500CZK + 200 CZK - 400 CZK)

Tariff Add-ons:
T-Mobile offer a number of add-ons. For example you can select five numbers which they can call or send SMS for free. However, all other calls are 4,90 CZK irrespective of monthly tariff.

Documents to open a T-Mobile account:
1.    passport
2.    permanent residence or long-term residence permit

Internet on your Mobile
T-Mobile offer five options for Internet connection on your phone. For those on plans there are three monthly tariffs: 139, 239 and 499 CZK. The difference is the amount of data which is 100 MB, 300 MB and 1 GB respectively. There is also a daily plan for 24 CZK for 24 hours of connection. The data limit in this case is 10 MB. People with pre-paid can also make use of this short term connection. Exclusively for the pre-paid plans there is a weekly plan for 39 CZK with a 25 MB limit.

Cancelling:
If you have an open contract - which is the best option if you don't know how long you will be here - you will have to give them 30 days notice. If your contract has an expressed date of termination, terminating in advance is not possible.

Customer Service:
Branch: Na Příkopě 23, Prague 1
Comments: A little understaffed, so there was a bit of a wait. Once I spoke with the consultant I found he was able to deal with all of my questions in competent English. He recommended that I get an open contract for 500 per month because it will be cheaper in the long-run. Generally, T-Mobile have a wide distribution of outlets through Prague.

Website:
http://www.t-mobile.cz/web/en
In terms of finding information in English about the tariffs and how to set up a plan, the website is good. It fails in providing more detailed information in English regarding legal questions or the Internet, which are only given in Czech.

VODAFONE

Pay as You Go
Vodafone has a 200 CZK option called the “Wild Card”. For 200 CZK, you get 200 CZK of credit. Calls are 3 CZK per minute within the Vodafone network, 7.20 CZK per minute to other networks. SMS messages are 2.40 CZK. MMS prices are not given. There are also possibilities to recharge the plan online or via the phone (in Czech).

Contracts:
First thing, you are not required to sign a contract for personal accounts. Instead, you pay a deposit which is 5000 CZK if you don't have permanent residency. The deposit is returned when you cancel the number. If you do have permanent residency, the deposit is a minimum of 500 CZK. (There's no clear reason why you would pay more.) This deposit is returned after the first three months of “good payment”.

When setting up your plan, you are asked to select a package: 362, 552, 790 or 1065 CZK, though each is discounted around 30%. Each has respectively 50, 125, 250 and 400 minutes of calls. Afterwards, calls cost 5, 4, 3 and 2.50 CZK respectively. The 522 and 790 CZK packages include 100 SMS. Each SMS cost 1 CZK. If you have no SMS package the cost is 1.50 CZK. The 1065 CZK allows you to call 4 friends for free. The two more expensive include full Internet.

You can also customize you tariff. The steps on website are easy to follow. You click on “sestavit” (Yes, even on the English page) and choose friends, calls, SMS, Internet. Testing it myself, it would seem it is cheaper to just choose a package because it will be cheaper than a plan which has the same features selected separately. For example, the 1065 CZK plan costs 1485 CZK per month when you choose the same features. You get 10% discount if you arrange your tariff on-line. Unused credit can be transferred but only once. If you do not use the credit it will not be carried to the subsequent months.

Documents to obtain a Vodafone account:
1. Passport and other ID with a photograph and personal data, including date of birth.

Internet
The monthly Internet tariff is 177 CZK for 150 MB. If you need more data, say 500 MB, this can be obtained for 315 CZK per month. For 17 CZK you can purchase a daily Internet connection with 5 MB of data.

Cancelling:
The plan can be canceled within 24 hours of informing Vodafone. The representative I spoke to seemed certain you needed to go in person. In order to get the deposit, they will then send a request and the deposit will be paid into a bank account (it must be a Czech bank account) or sent by post. Transfer to your bank account can take up to 30 days. The representative said that by post it will take longer.

Customer Service
Branch: Václavské náměstí 47, Prague 1
Comments: Speedy service and probably the best communication skills and personal manner encountered among the three branches visited. The sales assistant recommended the pre-paid, realizing the 5000 CZK deposit was a bit steep. However, he did say that over time it would be cheaper.

Website:
The pages on how to set up a plan are easy to follow. However, more information, for example the necessity of a deposit, could be given earlier. Not so easy to find information about legal matters.

Final Remarks:
The prepaid options seem to be largely the same. One may be cheaper in one area, but will make up for that in another. In terms of a monthly plan, T-Mobile would appear to be the easiest. No deposit and it´s not necessary to have permanent residency. However, remember to insist on an open contract in order to be able to close it when you finish.

So what have been your experiences? Have you been told or experienced something different? What about service - customer service and call coverage - which do you think is the best? Or worst?