Centertel expects losses until 2001 due to Idea expansion

According to Centertel's finance director Grzegorz Mozdyniewicz, the firm will continue to have losses until the end of 2001 because most of its money is consumed by the development of the Idea network which will absorb a total of some $0.5 billion. Centertel has already spent $200 million on the network. Idea operates in 10 major Polish cities, namely Warsaw, Lodz, Poznan, Szczecin, Lublin, Krakow, Wroclaw, Katowice, Torun, and Tri-city (Gdansk, Gdynia, and Sopot). According to Centertel's general director Marek Jozefiak, the firm has about 250,000 subscribers. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 26)