Czech Telecom to provide state with emergency services

The Czech government has appointed the dominant fixed-line telephone operator Cesky Telecom as the national carrier, whose tasks will be to provide the state with telecoms services during emergencies or crises. The appointment will enable Telecom to take part in sessions of crisis committees, which are preparing crisis management schemes for the telecoms sector. In critical situations, the national carrier will be obliged to provide services to state bodies and extend services for crisis management, including the allocation of frequencies and telephone numbers and reduction of common traffic. According to a government spokesman, Telecom can meet all the technical requirements and the decision has been approved by the National Security Office. At the same time, Telecom also provides services to the country's security forces and the integrated rescue system.