Dialog to introduce new method of charging subscribers for internet access

Fixed-line telephone operator Wroclawska Telefonia Lokalna Dialog is planning to build a countrywide internet-network. It has signed a $2.5 million agreement with Cisco Systems Poland to fulfil this plan. The telephone network will be fully based on the technology of Cisco, but both companies will jointly conduct a marketing campaign. "We want to create a service platform which will charge the customers for actual use of the internet and not the length of the telephone connection," said Dialog president Jaroslaw Marek Janiszewski. Subscribers to Dialog will pay a base fee zl. 85. Customers will also be able to buy the exact number of hours they want to be connected to the internet and also choose the time of the day when they will be connected. Dialog is also planning to increase the number of connections and introduce new services. As of August, Wroclaw subscribers will be able to use Dialog's services and the company promises to provide services to other regions for which it has acquired licenses." The investment of Dialog in the internet proves that services connected with data transmission have become very important for phone operators and are accounting for bigger shares of their revenue," said CEO of Cisco (Poland) Jacek Murawski. (Prawo i Gospodarka, July 15-16, page 3) M.M.