Exactly thirty years ago, on September 30, 1996, RadioMobil launched commercial operation of the Paegas mobile network. At that time, a mobile phone ceased to be a luxury for a narrow group of users and an era began during which mobile communication became a regular part of practically everyone's life. Today, T-Mobile provides services to more than 6,6 million customers, its 5G network covers 99,3% of the Czech population according to the Czech Telecommunication Office, and according to the current independent Opensignal rating, it has the best mobile network in the Czech Republic.
In thirty years, not only the way people make calls, but also what they use the network for has fundamentally changed. The infrastructure originally intended primarily for voice calls has become a technological platform through which people communicate, work, watch TV, shop, use banking services or access digital government services. In the last year alone, mobile data consumption on the T-Mobile network has increased by another 23,5%.
From the first SMS to 5G and artificial intelligence
The Paegas network started operating in 1996, along with the advent of GSM. SMS began to work. A year later, Twist – the first prepaid card in the Czech Republic – arrived, and in 1998, Paegas, together with Expandia Banka, made it possible to control a bank account directly from a mobile phone. The Czech Republic thus became only the third country in the world with a similar service.
At the turn of the millennium, mobile internet and GPRS followed, in 2002 Paegas changed to T-Mobile, and in 2005 the operator was the first in the Czech Republic to launch a third-generation UMTS network. In 2012, Mladá Boleslav became the first Czech city to be covered nationwide by T-Mobile's LTE network, and in November 2020 the operator commercially launched 5G.
Probut the brand itself was also changing. T-Mobile gradually expanded its services from mobile communication to fixed internet, MAGENTA TV, ICT, cloudin, cybersecurity, campus 5G networks or the Internet of Things. In recent years, it has added its own T Phone, the Magenta Moments customer program and services using artificial intelligence.
“Over the past thirty years, we have grown from a mobile operator to a technology partner for millions of customers. In that time, technology has changed virtually every part of our lives – the way we communicate, the way we work and the way we connect with each other. But our story has never been just about networks and technology. It is above all about people – the customers who trust us, the partners who grow with us and the employees whoanc"those whose energy and ideas made this journey possible. Thirty years is an opportunity to look back on what we have achieved together, but above all to think about what comes next and focus on further development," says Melinda Szabó, CEO of T-Mobile Czech Republic and Slovak Telekom.
More than two million customers in Magenta Moments
T-Mobile wants to place customer relationships at the center of its further development. One example is the Magenta Moments customer program, which the operator launched as the first within the Deutsche Telekom group in 2023. In just three years, more than two million users have registered for it via the My T-Mobile application.
Program is not just a discount catalog. Pro operator has gradually become a platform through which the brand communicates with customers and offers them its own and partner benefits, competitions, gifts and experiences. During this summer alone, more than 200 thousand customers picked up one of the physical gifts. T-Mobile will then connect the autumn directly with the celebrations of its thirtieth anniversary: it is thinking not only about its employeesance, but also customers who will find birthday competitions, discounts and entertainment at Magenta Moments, for the non-profit sector for which it was special grant announced and also to the general public, who can look forward to a special light surprise.
A network that has not left its leading role in thirty years
Technologies have completely transformed several times over the past three decades, but a high-quality network remains the foundation of the operator's services. Every year, T-Mobile invests billions of crowns in network infrastructure. According to data from the Czech Telecommunication Office, at the end of August, 5G network coverage reached 99,3% of the population, and the operator's fastest high-speed connection is available to more than 1,4 million households.
The latest independent analysis by Opensignal, based on data from April to June 2026, has named T-Mobile the best mobile network in the Czech Republic. The operator won in 13 of the 15 categories monitored, including eight individually, and achieved, among other things, an average download speed of 72,3 Mbps. Opensignal also praised the consistent quality of the connection and the range of mobile and 5G coverage.
The future will be all about data
The development does not end with today's 5G. T-Mobile is testing and preparing technologies that will take the network to the next stage - from 5G Standalone through the further development of optical infrastructure and coverage of railway corridors to the use of artificial intelligence in the operation of networks and digital services. For example, this year, it also tested the combination of a mobile base station located on a drone and a satellite connection in real operation, and the development of innovations continues.
“Thirty years ago, the mere fact that a mobile phone reached ordinary people was a big change. Today, we expect the network to be fully available practically all the time and everywhere, connecting not only people, but also households, companies, transport and entire industrial plants. And with the advent of artificial intelligence, another chapter opens in how technology can transform our daily lives. What has not changed is our task: to create technologies that enable people to be together and use the possibilities of the digital world in maximum. T means connecting your world,” concludes Melinda Szabó.
