A1 Hrvatska

A1 Hrvatska d.o.o. is the first private mobile network operator in Croatia,[3] a part of the Telekom Austria Group and a strategic partner of Vodafone.

A1 Hrvatska d.o.o.
TypePublic
IndustryWireless services
Telecommunication
FoundedJuly 1, 1999 (1999-07-01) (start of commercial operation)
Headquarters
Zagreb
,
Croatia
Area served
Croatia
Key people
Jiří Dvorjančanský (CEO, CMO)
Adrian Ježina (CTO)
Bernd Schmutterer (CFO)[1]
ServicesGSM, GPRS, MMS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, LTE
OwnerA1 Telekom Austria Group
Number of employees
c. 1800 (2018)[2]
Websitewww.a1.hr

The mobile operator A1 launched in Croatia in July 1999 and since then has introduced many products and services including prepaid telephony, MMS and international roaming.

Until the A1 brand was introduced in Croatia, the company was known as Vipnet.

In August 2011, A1 acquired B.net, the largest Croatian cable operator that offers fixed telephony, broadband Internet access and television services such as cable television and satellite television.[4] This acquisition was the biggest takeover within the Croatian telecom market.

A1 is the first and only operator that has made available, in all areas of Croatia, the complete 5-play service, which includes A1 TV, mobile and fixed telephony, as well as mobile and fixed Internet.

In November 2012 the number of mobile network customers amounted slightly over 2 million, and the number of households using A1's fixed communication and TV services grew for 19.6 percent more compared to 2011.

History (1999–2009)

Granted the concession for the second GSM network in Croatia in September 1998, A1 started its commercial operations on July 1, 1999. Because of the profound impact it had on the Croatian telecommunications market, A1 is also known for having the best market entrance as a second GSM operator in Europe ever. In 1999, A1 was the first on the Croatian market to offer its customers Vipme prepaid,[3] with no subscription fee and a year later A1 introduced the first mobile payment service in Croatia – Vip parking, which was later used and introduced by other global operators. Also, in 2002, A1 was among the first to launch MMS roaming. As a part of Telekom Austria Group and because of TAG's partnership agreement with Vodafone, A1 was the first in Croatia to present a new business communications solution – Vodafone Blackberry, in 2004.

Later on, in 2006, A1 offered an alternative to fixed telephony line with the Vodafone Homebox to its private customers, small and medium enterprises and in February 2008 Vipnet introduced the first prepaid fixed line in Croatia– Vipme Homebox.

A1 was the first in Croatia to introduce technologies such as GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA. In March 2007 it was the first in Europe to demonstrate mobile Internet access via its HSDPA 7.2 network and in February 2009 was among the first in the world to successfully test the latest technology for mobile broadband – HSPA+.

At the end of 2008, A1 had 2.5 million customers, up 14.1% compared to end of 2007.[5] Its market share is 42.2%, down from 43% share at the end of 2007.[5] As of May 2012, it had 1.964 million customers.[6]

Recent years (2010–2013)

In 2010 A1 introduced ADSL and in the same year presented Dual Carrier HSDPA technology. The same year A1 developed a range of services based on cloud computing such as Vip auto nadzor (Vip car surveillance), Vip nadzor radnog vremena (Vip business hours surveillance), Vip nadzor prodaje (Vip sales surveillance) and Vip nadzor brodova (Vip ship surveillance). With these services customers achieve significant savings, because they do not have to invest in expensive technology or have their own IT infrastructure. In March 2011, A1 was the first in Croatia to test LTE technology at 800 MHz for covering Croatia with the most advanced wireless broadband. In August 2011, A1 acquired B.net, the largest Croatian cable operator. Total value of this acquisition was EUR 93 million which represents the biggest takeover within the Croatian telecom market so far.

At the beginning of 2012, A1 was the first on the market to offer combi packages for fixed and mobile services. In March 2012, A1 and Ericsson Nikola Tesla launched the first commercial LTE network in Croatia. Following the April 2012 and the introduction of a high quality digital television VipTV, in October 2012 A1 became the first and only operator that has made available, in all areas of Croatia, the complete 5-play service, which includes Vip TV, mobile and fixed telephony, as well as mobile and fixed Internet – and all on one bill. Also, in May 2012 A1 was first to set a world record in data transmission on the fixed network with speeds of up to 4.3 Gbit/s which is 1000 times greater than the average in Croatian households.

A1 finished the year 2012 presenting its new technological and business complex in Žitnjak. The complex was worth 50 million HRK, it is energy self-sufficient and also contains one of the largest data center in the region. Today A1 is still best known for its mobile network. It is a 900 MHz GSM, 2100 MHz 3G (WCDMA), 1800 and 2600 MHz 4G (LTE) network which supports GPRS, MMS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA and LTE technologies. A1 introduced a number of these technologies to the Croatian market first and remain a technological leader in the field.

In 2013, A1 acquired 100 percent ownership of Digi satelitska televizija d.o.o. Digi TV Croatia is one of the providers of digital television services on the Croatian market, which began operating in November 2006, and provides exclusively satellite television service using Direct to Home (DTH) technology. By integrating Digi TV Croatia into A1, satellite television will become a standard part of the service offering under the A1 brand.[7][8]

References
  1. "Uprava" (in Croatian). Vipnet. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  2. "Oko 1800 ljudskih radnika u A1 dobilo 40 kolega-robota" (in Croatian). 3 December 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  3. "Brojke koje (ne) lažu: Više korisnika usluga, nego vlasnika mobitela". Poslovni dnevnik (in Croatian). 14 March 2008. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  4. "Vip kupio B.net za 93 milijuna eura". index.hr. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  5. "Vip Has 2.5 Million Customers" (Press release). Vipnet. January 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  6. "Novi igrač na tržištu: H1 postaje i mobilni operator!". Večernji list (in Croatian). 27 May 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  7. Vipnet, "Vipnet acquired satellite television provider Digi TV", Vipnet
  8. "Vipnet preuzeo i satelitsku televiziju Digi TV Hrvatska!" (in Croatian). 11 March 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
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