<span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>O2 to replace Cesky Telecom, Eurotel brands</span>

Prague, Aug 20 (CTK) - Telecommunication company Telefonica O2 will start to change the brand names Cesky Telecom and Eurotel to O2 in September.

The changes will be accompanied by an offer of new services, among them TV broadcasts over fixed lines.

According to unconfirmed reports, the transfer to the brand name O2 is to be gradual.

Experts put the costs of the brand name?s change, including a publicity campaign, at several hundreds of millions of crowns.

Telefonica O2 Czech Republic emerged on July 1 through the merger of dominant fixed-line operator Cesky Telecom and mobile carrier Eurotel, in which Cesky Telecom held 100 percent.

Telefonica bought 51 percent in Cesky Telecom from the state for CZK 82.6 billion last year and now controls 70 percent in the company.

The company has over 2.8 million fixed lines and 4.77 million cell phone users in the Czech Republic.

Interesting news but how will this affect O2's main focus of being a sole wireless provider? They don't have any fixed landline assets anywhere else. Or is Telefonica planning on imprinting their own name on the fixed line assets?

I drove through the Czech Republic for a couple of days recently. There were plenty of Vodafone and T-mobile adverts, but I was surprised to see hardly any Eurotel/O2 ones.

Makes me wonder what Telefonica's branding strategy is going to be. Now they have Mobistar, O2, and Telefonica; it doesn't look like they plan to use the O2 brand anywhere else.

You mean Movistar and not Mobistar which is the Belgian operator owned by... Orange! :D Anyway it seems that Telefonica is the brand for landline, Movistar for mobiles in latin countries and O2 mobiles in the other countries. Surely quite a weird strategy...

There are already adverts around. see link http://www.mobilmania.cz/Files/Obrazky/art..._reklama/01.jpg

Ah the infamous O2 water bubbles :D!!

Well they haven't got too many new ideas in years. :D BTW I have seen this advert this friday at the airport. tSill a lot of old Eurotel adverts around. They wait till the real end. And promising 1 minute commercial to be broadcasted in TV. Something like evolution from Eurotel to O2. Will update you on upcomming

Here is a few pictures of new O2 CZ branches. Girls are not for sale as of now.
http://www.mobilmania.cz/Files/Obrazky/art...prodejna/04.jpg
http://www.mobilmania.cz/Files/Obrazky/art...prodejna/02.jpg
http://www.mobilmania.cz/Files/Obrazky/art...prodejna/03.jpg

Curious that www.o2.cz is used by another site and www.o2online.cz is registered (not to Telefonica, it seems) but not used...