Editing Telecommunications in Slovakia (section)

==Telephone==

===Fixed lines===
[[Slovak Telecom|Slovak Telecom Inc.]] (former Slovenské Telekomunikácie, a.s.) was [[Privatization|privatised]] on 18 July 2000. The 51% package of shares was purchased by the German [[Deutsche Telekom|Deutsche Telecom AG]] for 1 bln. EUR (more than 44 bln. SKK at that time). The outstanding 49% of the shares are still owned by the [[Government of Slovakia|Slovak government]] through the Department of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic (34%) and the National Property Fund (15%).  Slovak Telecom was rebranded to T-Com in the year 2003.<ref name="privatisation">[http://dennik.inet.sk/clanok/729-ako-prebiehala-privatizacia-st/ Ako prebiehala privatizácia ST? (2000)] . Retrieved 21 December 2010. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316105007/http://dennik.inet.sk/clanok/729-ako-prebiehala-privatizacia-st/ |date=16 March 2012 }}</ref> In 2010 there were more than 100 companies licensed to provide public fixed line telephone service,<ref name="providers">[http://www.teleoff.gov.sk/sk/OTR/viewpublic.php?limit=1136 Providers of networks and services (Telecommunications  Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721003810/http://www.teleoff.gov.sk/sk/OTR/viewpublic.php?limit=1136 |date=21 July 2011 }} {{in lang|sk}}. Retrieved 21 December 2010.</ref> although many of these do not offer commercial service to the wider public. The most notable country-wide providers are T-Com, Orange, Dial Telecom, SWAN and UPC. Several regional providers also operate in the market. Many of these offer [[Triple play (telecommunications)|triple-play services]] consisting of a fixed line service, [[Internet access|broadband internet access]] and access to television programmes. The number of triple-play customers has doubled since the service was introduced and currently peaks at 78,049 subscribers.<ref name="stats2">[http://www.telecom.gov.sk/files/statistika_vud/sluzby_tel.htm#k4 Other Electronic Communication Services -  Bundled Offers (Department of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic, 2010)] {{in lang|sk}}. Retrieved 21 December 2010.</ref><ref group="note">Figure is as of 30 June 2010, as opposed to 41,734 subscribers by 20 June 2008.</ref>

Due to strong penetration of the Slovak market by mobile phones, the fixed lines sector has decreased dramatically in recent years. While there were 1,655,380 fixed lines in use in 1999, their number decreased by 60% to 994,421 in 2010.<ref name="stats1"/>

;Key figures of the fixed lines sector

*Fixed lines: 1.1 million lines, 75th in the world (2011).<ref name=CIA-WFB-Slovakia-2013>[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/slovakia/ "Slovakia"], ''The World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 10 September 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.</ref>
*Density: 18.31 lines per 100 inhabitants (2010).<ref name="stats1">[http://www.telecom.gov.sk/files/statistika_vud/infra_tel.htm#k1 Telecommunication Infrastructure (Department of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic, 2010)]. Retrieved 21 December 2010.</ref>
*Lines connected to digital exchanges: 100% (2010).<ref name="stats1"/>
*Households with fixed lines: 39.0% (2010).<ref name="stats1"/>

===Mobile cellular===
Mobile communication in Slovakia first became available in the early 1990s when the first [[Nordic Mobile Telephone|NMT network]] operator, EuroTel Bratislava, a.s., a subsidiary of the then state owned Slovenské Telekomunikácie a.s. [[Eurotel|EuroTel]], introduced the first [[GSM]] service to public in 1997. EuroTel was privatised together with its parent company and was rebranded as T-Mobile on 3 May 2005. It is now fully integrated as part of the international [[T-Mobile International AG|T-Mobile]] brand. The second GSM network operator started its operation on 15 January 1997 under the name GlobTel a.s. It was acquired by France Télécom (through Atlas Services Belgium, 100% shares) and rebranded to [[Orange Slovensko]] on 27 March 2002. [[Telefónica Europe]], the third mobile operator in Slovakia, entered the market in February 2007 under the [[Telefónica Slovakia|O2]] brand.

Virtual providers are active in the Slovak market, the most notable being Tesco Mobile (associated with Tesco Stores) and FunFón (a virtual operator associated with a popular FM radio station).

'''Key figures of the mobile cellular sector'''

* Active mobile cellular: 6.0 million subscribers, 99th in the world (2011).<ref name=CIA-WFB-Slovakia-2013/><ref group="note">Active mobile subscribers includes industrial applications such as [[Alarm device|Alarm system]]s that use a [[Subscriber identity module|SIM card]] for GSM based communication.</ref>
* Density: 105.12 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (2010).<ref name="stats1"/>
* Land coverage of land ([[GSM]]): 95.9% of the land area (2010).<ref name="stats1"/>
* Population coverage ([[GSM]]): 99.6% of the population (2010).<ref name="stats1"/>

===Telephone system===
* International country code: +421, three international exchanges, one in [[Bratislava]] and two in [[Banská Bystrica]].
* Emergency call numbers:
** [[112 (emergency telephone number)|112]] - [[European Union|EU]] standard integrated emergency service (one nationwide call centre directly connected to police, EMS, firefighters, [[Mountain Rescue Service (Slovakia)|Mountain Rescue Service]] and others)
** 158 - direct call centre - Police
** 155 - direct call centre - [[Emergency medical services|EMS]] (features doctors available for consultations online)
** 150 - direct call centre - Firefighters
** 18300 - direct call centre - [[Mountain Rescue Service (Slovakia)|Mountain Rescue Service]]