The ‘Ministry of Transport’ is the governing authority of transport in the Czech Republic, managing Road Transport, Road Traffic Safety (BESIP), Railway Transport, Air Transport, Water Transport, Public and Combined Transportation, the State Fund of Transport Infrastructure, Transport Policy, International Relations and Environmental Department, Crisis Management Issues, and the Information Systems Department.
The Department of Public Transport represents the ministry before the judiciary, providing regulatory, conceptual and legislative guidelines for road and rail passenger transport. Additionally, the department integrates transport systems and manages national information system on schedule. Finally, the department functions in co-ordination with local authorities to implement transport facilities across the nation.
There are two basic modes of mass public transit: buses and metro. The bus companies include Autobus and Trolleybus.
There are seven highways and one rail network stretching across the nation. Prague, the capital of the country, has a well-developed public transport infrastructure consisting of buses, a metro and trams.
Czech Airlines (CSA) is a state-owned airline connecting the nation to major global destinations. The ANS (Airline Navigation Service) maintains air-traffic safety, international aviation standards and legal regulations. There are 18 paved airports in the country. The major airports are Prague-Ruzyně, Brno-Turany, Ostrava-Mosnov and Karlovy Vary. The average length of runway is 2500 feet.
The Vltava and Elbe rivers serve as the most important waterways.
(Sources: Ministry of Transport, National Statistics, aircraft-charter-world,Sky Team, Businessinfo.cz)
‘The Regulatory Authority’ of the country governs the telecommunications sector in regards to domestic tarrifs and interconnection charges. Leaving, the Czech Telecommunication Office responsible for all other matters.
Cesky Telecom is one of the providers of mobile, fixed-line and wireless communication network services. Telefonica O2, Vodafone and T-Mobile are the other large service providers for mobile users. Since 2005, fixed-line numbers declined, as people preferenced mobile and internet communication. 65.5% of the population use the internet regularly. The country has one of the highest numbers of WiFi hotspots in EU with over 1670 hotspots in 2007.
Recent developments in the telecom industry include the introduction of 3G and VoIP services, along with access to broadband facilities in remote areas.
(Sources: oecd.org, internetworldstats, o2.cz , ctu.cz, volny)
In 2010, there were 2, 405,500 fixed telephone lines in Poland.
(Source: World Bank)
In 2010, the number of mobile cellular subscription users was recorded at 14,392,964.
(Source: World Bank)