Private company

BonBon

Logo: Bonbon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Croatian mobile network operator

Bonbon (usually stylised as bonbon, in lowercase) is a mobile network operator based in Croatia. It operates as a mobile virtual network operator using the T-Mobile network. It is owned by T-Hrvatski Telekom (T-HT) and was launched on 1 October 2010.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

Oct 1, 2010Founded1
  • Industrymobile phone industry, telecommunications industry1
  • HeadquartersZagreb1
  • Websitewww.bonbon.hr

Bonbon (usually stylised as bonbon, in lowercase) is a mobile network operator based in Croatia. It operates as a mobile virtual network operator using the T-Mobile network. It is owned by T-Hrvatski Telekom (T-HT) and was launched on 1 October 2010.2

Corporate structure

BonBon is part of a group headed by Deutsche Telekom. 267 entities, 34 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Deutsche Telekom Bonn, Germany
    • Slovak Telekom 100% · Bratislava, Slovakia
    • T-Mobile Austria 100% · Wien, Austria
    • T-Mobile Czech Republic 100% · Praha 4, Czechia
      • CE Colo Czech s.r.o. Subsidiary · Praha 10, Czechia
    • T-Mobile Polska 100% · Warszawa, Poland
    • T-Systems International GmbH 100% · Bonn, Germany
    • Telekom Deutschland 100% · Bonn, Germany
      • Deutsche Telekom Vertrieb Subsidiary · Germany
    • Hrvatski Telekom 51% · Zagreb
      • BonBon Zagreb
      • Combis Subsidiary
    • Telekom (Greece) 48.29% · Marousi, Greece
      • MagentaTV Greece Subsidiary · 100% · Athens
      • OTEGlobe Subsidiary · 100% · Athens
      • Otenet Subsidiary · Athens
      • COSMOTE PAYMENTS - YPIRESIES ILEKTRONIKOU CHRIMATOS ANONYMOS ETAIREIA Subsidiary · Marousi, Greece
      • OTE Museum of Telecommunications Subsidiary · Kifisia Municipality, Greece
      • OTE PLC Subsidiary · London, United Kingdom
    • Deutsche Telekom MMS Dresden, Germany
    • T-Mobile US Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • iWireless Subsidiary · Urbandale
      • Metro by T-Mobile Subsidiary · Richardson
      • Ultra Mobile Subsidiary
      • APC Realty and Equipment Company, LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Assurance Wireless USA, L.P. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • ATI Sub, LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Blis Ad Platform Private Limited Subsidiary · India
      • Blis Global Spain, S.L. Subsidiary · Spain
      • Blis Italia S.r.l. Subsidiary · Italy
      • Blis Media Pty Pte. Ltd. Subsidiary · Singapore
      • Blis Netherlands B.V. Subsidiary · Netherlands
      • Blis USA, Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • BlisMedia (Australia) Pty Ltd Subsidiary · Australia
      • Breeze Acquisition Sub LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Clearwire Communications LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Clearwire International, LLC Subsidiary · Washington, United States
      • Clearwire Legacy LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Clearwire Spectrum Holdings II LLC Subsidiary · Nevada, United States
      • Clearwire Spectrum Holdings III LLC Subsidiary · Nevada, United States
      • Clearwire Spectrum Holdings LLC Subsidiary · Nevada, United States
      • Fiber JV Holdings LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Finco Depositor I LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Finco Depositor II LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Finco Depositor III LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Finco Depositor IV LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • and 111 more
    • T-Systems (Singapore) Singapore, Singapore
    • T-Mobile UK Subsidiary · 100% · Hatfield
    • Magyar Telekom Subsidiary · 59.23% · Budapest
    • Albanian Mobile Communications Subsidiary · Tirana
    • Comfortcharge Subsidiary · Bonn, Germany
    • congstar Subsidiary · Cologne
    • Crnogorski Telekom Subsidiary · Podgorica
    • Detecon Subsidiary · Cologne
    • Deutsche Funkturm Subsidiary · Leverkusen, Germany
    • Deutsche Telekom (United Kingdom) Subsidiary · Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom
    • Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions Slovakia Subsidiary · Košice, Slovakia
    • Deutsche Telekom Services Europe Czech Republic Subsidiary · Brno, Czech Republic
    • Magenta Telekom Subsidiary
    • Makedonski Telekom Subsidiary · Skopje
    • One Albania Subsidiary · Tirana
    • and 68 more

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 of annual reports filed with the SEC; subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Bonbon commenced operations on 1 October 2010, as a mobile virtual network operator using the T-Mobile network. The name bonbon probably originated from the Croatian word for a top-up card (bon). The name also resembles the Croatian word for candy – bombon. Although the correct number of users is widely unknown, in October 2011 the company announced that the number of customers topped 100,000 and in January 2015 they announced over their Facebook page that they had reached more than 200.000 subscribers.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bonbon (mobile phone operator), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Products and services

SIM card

The SIM card is the main product. It supports all standard 2G, 3G LTE, and 5G services. The SIM card can be acquired in two ways: by purchasing one at the newsstand or ordering one from the bonbon website. As bonbon uses the T-Mobile network, the SIM can function only with mobile phones that are either unlocked or locked to the T-Mobile network. Bonbon is known to offer the smallest top-up card on the market for 10 kunas.

Internet SIM card

The Internet SIM card can be acquired exclusively on Bonbon's web shop. It automatically activates once the user starts using it. It allows the user to send and receive SMSs but does not permit voice calls.

Services

One of the specific and unique features of bonbon is the fact that it does not have standardized tariffs, but instead, lets the users choose the specific combination and quantity of voice, SMS and data packages. It introduced this feature on 15 February 2011. Bonbon was also the first network in Croatia not to have a call setup fee. Bonbon is the only network that permits users the possibility of choosing their own number. In May 2012 it became the first network to allow money transfers from one bonbon account to another, free of charge. The bonbon web shop is the main channel of distribution and one of the main communication channels.

Customer service

Bonbon's customer service maintains a permanent on-line presence and can be reached at all times. It relies on members of the service team to provide timely answers to questions raised by users. The customer service consists of a team of approximately 30 people that are on-line 0-24 and can be reached through social media channels – Facebook, X (Formerly Twitter), Google+, forum, chat and by e-mail. It has been reported that bonbon fancies this type of approach because of the direct access to the users and the low cost of operation set up.

Read the full text

Marketing

Advertising

Bonbon is known for its edgy and sometimes provocative advertising. Some ads depicted sexually charged imagery. In 2012, bonbon published a YouTube video, a longer version of its TV ad that portrayed two girls kissing, causing a stir in the local media, but drawing praises from LGBT friendly web sites.

Awards and acknowledgments

In 2011, bonbon was a finalist at the Effie awards in the telecommunication category. The agency responsible for the work awarded was Digitel, from Zagreb.

In 2012, bonbon was the recipient of a couple of awards. At the annual national advertising festival, IdejaX, it won the prize for its pre-movie videos ‘Moron’, ‘Jerk’ and ‘Idiot’ that were done by the ad agency Fahrenheit. It also picked up a prize for best production for its TV ad done by Publicis Zagreb. At the Sudnji dan festival, ‘Moron’, ‘Jerk’ and ‘Idiot’ picked up another award,

this time for best copywriting. At the 2012 Vidi awards, bonbon's site was awarded 5th place in the Corporate website category. The Web site is the work of Nivas, a Zagreb-based digital agency.

Sponsorships

Bonbon has a consistent policy of sponsorship, regularly preferring open-air festivals. So far it has sponsored the Šibenik-based Terraneo festival, an indie music festival, and Gričevanje, a music festival in the center of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bonbon (mobile phone operator), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. Oct 1, 2010Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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