Telephone systems in 94 Bulgarian settlements had been converted to digital by January 1 2008, the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) said on January 8.
Over two years, BTC invested more than 130 million leva in modernising its fixed network, the company said in a media statement.
As a result of the increased number of digitalised numbers, the level of digitalisation in Bulgaria exceeded 73 per cent of all telephone lines. Due to the engagements with the European Union that BTC undertook at the beginning of 2006, the company said that it was successfully carrying out the modernisation and digitalisation of its network throughout the country.
The project to replace analogue telephone switchboards started in 2006, and by January 1 2007, phone systems in all 27 Bulgarian regional towns had been converted to digital. BTC said that it had changed about 400 000 subscribers’ lines, exceeding the EU requirement of 60 per cent nationwide digitalisation.
BTC said that in 2007 it had continued investing in network modernisation in smaller Bulgarian settlements. This resulted in removal of all duplex telephones in a further 67 Bulgarian towns and villages. More than 200 000 other BTC clients currently were making use of the advantages of the digital network, BTC said.
“During the past two years the priority of the Bulgarian telecom was network modernisation, aiming at creating better opportunities for using contemporary voice and broadband services,” Sevdalin Stanev, chief director of the fixed network design department, said. “We believe that in this way we correspond our clients’ increasing requirements, supplying them with modern and flexible telecommunications solutions and world quality services.”
The company said that where digitalisation had been carried out, BTC clients could activate many other additional services free if charge, service that had not been accessible through analogue telephones. These services include call redirecting, call waiting and fixed telephone line group calls.
BTC said that network modernisation created an opportunity for a significant expansion of the BTC ADSL internet network and broadband communications services in general. BTC broadband internet service subscribers currently number more than 140 000 in more than 300 settlements in Bulgaria.
