Mailbox

Today in Mailbox: Mobile number portability in the Czech Republic, typewriters in Radio Prague, the preservation of historical monuments, the number of listeners’ letters in 2009, shortwave reception of Radio Prague’s broadcasts. Listeners quoted: Swopan Chakroborty, Lenfant Lee, Barbara Ziemba, Rassem Ben Brahim.

Hello and welcome to Mailbox, Radio Prague’s Sunday show dedicated to your questions and comments.

Swopan Chakroborty from the Indian city of Kolkata has this question:

“Is mobile phone number portability service in place in your country? I.e. can Czech mobile phone subscribers change their service provider without changing the mobile phone number? This facility is yet to be launched in India. Also, I want to know on which platform Czech mobile phone service providers provide their mobile phone service, on 3G, 2G or 4G?”

Mobile number portability has been in place in the Czech Republic since January 2006. So it has now been four years that customers have been able to retain their mobile number even after switching operators. When dialling such a number, callers are notified by a voice message of the network they are accessing. Czech operators mostly provide their services using 2G with some data services on 3G.

Our regular listener Lenfant Lee from China also has a question concerning technology, but of a rather different kind:

“I’m interested whether anyone still uses a typewriter in Radio Prague. I just bought an Erika typewriter which was made in Germany many years ago. I like it very much. I can type my data on the reception report form, or print on the envelope.”

As far as I know none of the staff employees use a mechanical typewriter at Radio Prague anymore. Now and then you can still hear the clacking of an old-fashioned typewriter from one of the other language section’s offices on our corridor but it’s a real exception. Typewriters disappeared from the offices en masse at about the same time as old-fashioned tape reels were replaced by more modern technologies.

And moving much further back in history, Barbara Ziemba from Illinois has read Radio Prague’s article titled ‘All kinds of historical monuments under threat in Czech Republic, says conservationist’. And this is her comment:

“I can not begin to tell just how important it is to preserve these monuments. These monuments contain the history of your country. I have visited your country several times and every time I am there I don't want to go to the nearest ‘new shopping mall’ or ‘cinder block arena’ simply because what is that going to tell me. I want to seek out the buildings that were built to withstand time and find out the story that they have to tell. I understand that it is very costly, time consuming, and difficult to restore some of these monuments. But, don't give up on them, their value is tenfold as to what you put into them. Years ago I discovered the plight of saving some of the monuments in the countryside through the Via Foundation in Prague. I know economic times make it difficult for us all, but please do not let these precious gems fall to the wayside.”

On a different subject, Rassem Ben Brahim from Tunisia would like to know:

“How many messages did your station receive in 2009?”

The number of letters and e-mails received by all the six language departments of Radio Prague combined was 20,440, out of which well over a third – 7,696 – were sent to the English section – all of them read and appreciated. So please keep them coming.

Bohumil Hrabal (1914-1997) One of the most popular Czech novelists in the second half of the 20th century, prolific and internationally successful. Many works are based on the writer’s own experiences doing unlikely jobs. |Photo: Karel Kestner, Karel Kouba, ČTK

Speaking about listeners’ messages – we are very much interested in you telling us about shortwave reception in your area. As you will know, Radio Prague has had to reduce its broadcast schedule due to budget cuts. At the moment we are running on a provisional schedule but we can fine tune it, so to speak, for the summer broadcast period, based on your feedback. So we very much welcome your reception reports from around the world – and as every year, there is a set of lovely QSL cards, this time featuring notable Czech writers.

The addresses for your reception reports and letters and e-mails in general are [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague. Your answers to our monthly quiz are anticipated at the same addresses:

This month we are asking you to tell us the name of the 10th century Bohemian nobleman, priest, bishop and missionary who travelled around Europe and was killed while trying to spread Christianity in Prussia. He is the Patron saint of Bohemia but also Poland, Hungary and Prussia.

If you want to be included in the prize draw, your answers need to reach us by next Sunday, February 28th. Until then, happy listening.