A1 Hrvatska d.o.o. is a Croatian

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

company owned by

A1 Telekom Austria Group A1 Telekom Austria Group is a provider of a range of fixed-line, broadband Internet, multimedia services, data, and IT systems, wholesale as well as mobile payment services. It is a subsidiary of Mexican telecommunications conglomerate América ...

launched in July 1999.

History

1999–2009

Granted the concession for the second GSM network in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in September 1998, Vipnet started its commercial operations on January 1, 1999. In 1999, Vipnet was the first on the Croatian market to offer its customers Vipme prepaid, with no subscription fee and a year later Vipnet introduced the first mobile payment service in Croatia – Vip parking, which was later used and introduced by other operators. As a part of

Telekom Austria A1 Telekom Austria Group is a provider of a range of fixed-line, broadband Internet, multimedia services, data, and IT systems, wholesale as well as mobile payment services. It is a subsidiary of Mexican telecommunications conglomerate América ...

Group and because of TAG's partnership agreement with

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

, Vipnet was the first in

to present a new business communications solution – Vodafone Blackberry, in 2004. Later on, in 2006, Vipnet offered an alternative to fixed telephony line with the Vodafone Homebox to its private customers, small and medium enterprises and in February 2008 introduced the first prepaid fixed line in Croatia – Vipme Homebox. In March 2007 it was the first in Europe to demonstrate

mobile Internet The mobile web comprises mobile browser-based World Wide Web services accessed from handheld mobile devices, such as smartphones or feature phones, through a mobile or other wireless network. History and development Traditionally, the World ...

access via its

HSDPA High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunic ...

7.2 network and in February 2009 was among the first in the world to successfully test the latest technology for

mobile broadband Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile network, mobile (cell) networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartp ...

–

HSPA+ HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment * Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school * Hunte ...

. At the end of 2008, Vipnet had 2.5 million customers, up 14.1% compared to end of 2007. Its market share is 42.2%, down from 43% share at the end of 2007. , it had 1.964 million customers.

2010–present

In 2010, Vipnet introduced

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over Copper wire, copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem ...

and in the same year presented Dual Carrier HSDPA technology. Also in the same year developed a range of services based on

cloud computing Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...

such as Vip auto nadzor (Vip car surveillance), Vip nadzor radnog vremena (Vip business hours surveillance), Vip nadzor prodaje (Vip sales surveillance) and Vip nadzor brodova (Vip ship surveillance). With these services customers achieve significant savings, because they do not have to invest in expensive technology or have their own

IT infrastructure Information technology infrastructure is defined broadly as a set of information technology (IT) components that are the foundation of an IT service; typically physical components (Computer hardware, computer and networking hardware and facilitie ...

. In March 2011, Vipnet was the first in Croatia to test

LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...

at 800 MHz for covering Croatia with the most advanced

wireless broadband Wireless broadband is a telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term encompasses both fixed and mobile broadband. The term broadband Originally the wo ...

. In August 2011, the company acquired B.net, the largest Croatian cable operator that offered fixed telephony,

broadband Internet access In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide- bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Internet access. The transmission m ...

and television services such as

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

and

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

. This acquisition for €93 million was the biggest takeover within the Croatian telecom market. At the beginning of 2012, Vipnet was the first on the market to offer combi packages for fixed and mobile services. In March 2012, Vipnet and Ericsson Nikola Tesla launched the first commercial

LTE network In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for cellular mobile devices and data terminals. It is considered to be a "transitional" 4G technology, and is therefore also referred to as 3.9 ...

in Croatia. Following the April 2012 and the introduction of a high quality

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

VipTV, in October 2012 Vipnet became the first and only operator that has made available, in all areas of Croatia, the complete 5-play service, which includes Vip TV, mobile and fixed telephony, as well as mobile and fixed Internet – and all on one bill. Also, in May 2012 Vipnet was first to set a world record in

data transmission Data communication, including data transmission and data reception, is the transfer of data, signal transmission, transmitted and received over a Point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication chann ...

on the fixed network with speeds of up to 4.3 Gbit/s which is 1000 times greater than the average in Croatian households. Vipnet finished the year 2012 presenting its new technological and business complex in Žitnjak. The complex was worth 50 million HRK, it is energy self-sufficient, and also contains one of the largest

data center A data center is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Since IT operations are crucial for busines ...

in the region. In 2013, the company acquired Digi TV Croatia (Digi satelitska televizija d.o.o.), one of the providers of satellite television on the Croatian market, which began operating in November 2006. All customers were transferred to the satellite television company's service VIP TV. After the Agency for the Protection of Market Competition approved the acquisition of Vipnet and Metronet telecommunications in 2017, the takeover process was completed. Metronet was a provider of telecommunications services to business users with more than 4,300 users and possessed a 4,000-kilometer optical infrastructure. The value of the acquisition has not been announced.

References

External links

* {{Authority control América Móvil Telecommunications companies of Croatia Telecommunications companies established in 1999 Mobile phone companies of Croatia Croatian companies established in 1999