Czechs rank top mobile callers in EU

[AndreA]

Prague, July 28 (CTK) - There is no other country in the EU where mobile phones are used as much as in the Czech Republic, the Lidove noviny (LN) daily writes Monday citing a study of German association Bitkom. As many as 64 percent of Czech households have only a mobile phone, not a fixed line, the daily adds.
The Czech Republic is thus clearly the number one in this respect, followed by Finland (61 percent), Lithuania (53 percent) and Hungary (50 percent), LN says.
Before the Iron Curtain's fall, it was difficult in Eastern European countries in general to get a fixed line. The situation has gradually improved but many people preferred to buy a mobile phone, LN writes citing Bitkom's spokesman Maurice Shahd.
LN notes that the Czech Republic is exceptional also as regards post-communist countries. While in 2007 only 31 percent of Czech households had a fixed line, in Hungary it was 42 percent and in Poland 62 percent.
"Our latest poll shows that 96 percent of Czechs use mobile phones, not including small children," Czech Telecoms Office (CTU) spokeswoman Dana Makrlikova told LN.
Just 4 percent of Czechs have only a fixed line, LN adds.


[via Prague Monitor, http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/388/...al_news/26060/ ]