BUCHAREST, Romania—EuroTel Praha, the Czech GSM operator, announced that with the help of a movable base station connected to the EuroTel network, members of the Czech army can make mobile telephone calls from Kosovo.
“Our engineers are ready to create and build towers wherever they might be needed,” said Alexander Winkler, Eurotel’s chief operating officer (CEO). “Using satellites and base station technology, we can connect almost anyone to the Eurotel network and thus also to the world.”
Originally built for a field hospital in Albania, the movable base station has been relocated to Sajkovac in Kosovo, where Czech and Slovak troops help keep the peace as part of the NATO’s KFOR security forces. Constructed and mobilized in 1999, the transmission tower allowed medics and doctors with the Czech Army’s sixth field hospital to consult with specialists back home while performing complex medical procedures often associated with refugees.
To make it work, EuroTel prepared 100 Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards specifically designed to interface with the movable base station. By linking them into its own virtual private network (VPN), the cards also provide users with reduced prices for calls and short message service (SMS) messages. EuroTel and the Czech Army plan to operate the base station for one year, though this may change with circumstances.
