Network operator, distributor and water utility

In practice, a network operator means the owner, manager or operator of technical infrastructure: whoever owns and maintains the network and connects customers to it. The name differs by network: distributor (distribution system operator) for electricity and gas, water and sewer operator for water, and operator for electronic communications.

Electricity and gas: distributor is not supplier

Electricity and gas are delivered by a distribution system operator licensed by the Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ). For electricity these are mainly ČEZ Distribuce, EG.D and PREdistribuce, alongside operators of local distribution systems; for gas GasNet covers the largest area and Pražská plynárenská Distribuce serves Prague. Who the distributor is at a given place is shown by ERÚ's licence search or the bill.

The supplier the customer has an energy supply contract with is a different role and often a different company. An application for a new connection or a change of the main circuit breaker goes to the distributor, not the supplier.

Water and sewerage

A public water supply or sewer system may only be operated by the holder of an operating permit from the regional authority. The owner, for example a municipality, may run it itself or entrust operation to a water company by contract. The owner or operator passes information on connection conditions to the municipal office, which makes it public. Each year by 30 April, a comparison of the calculated and actual water and sewage charges is published and the municipality posts it on its official notice board.

What the network operator must disclose

Under Section 168 of the Building Act, the owner of technical infrastructure keeps records of it and provides anyone, free of charge on request, with connection conditions and information on protection and safety zones. In practice this is requested as a utility existence statement. Which operators to contact in an area is listed by the 'traffic light' function in the DMVS portal.