Only Eurotel held the exclusive position of public data service operation, and the Internet and had no intention of operating an Internet service. However, the situation changed abruptly in July 1995. [The Czech Internet was launched on July 1, 1995
Eurotel had gained its monopoly position five years earlier (November 1990), and at that time public data services were not yet effective on the market. Eurotel launched a mobile network and left the management of fixed lines to its parent company, SPT Telecom. A chain reaction soon followed, and on July 1, 1995, Telekom acquired Nextel\’s public data network division. The deal was a milestone in the history of the Czech Internet and involved a change in licensing. The new owners had to operate public data services under a non-exclusive agreement.
The business community, of course, enthusiastically welcomed the measure, allowing Internet providers (providers) to begin operations in late 1995.
What were the connection fees at the time? [It is interesting to note the evolution of Internet connection fees. In 1994, when only a very limited number of users were connected, the price for a 14.4 kbit/s fixed line connection to the CS Unix Users Group via COnet was a huge SEK 45,000 per month !In addition, there were costs for acquisition, installation, etc.
Already at the end of 1995, several providers exhibited at the Invex trade fair in Brno, creating a competitive environment and significantly lowering prices. 9.6 to 14.4 kbit/s fixed connections cost “only”. 10,000 per month. In 1995, dial-up was already available for a flat rate of 350 kronor per month, with a fixed fee of 1 kronor per minute; in December 1995, the most significant breakthrough in connection prices came with the entry of Italy\’s VOL (Video On Line) into the Czech market, where customers operated without paying for minutes and maintaining a fixed monthly fee of 495 kuna. However, they had to pay SPT Telecom a telephone fee based on the length of the dial-up connection.