Długie Rozmowy offers new prepaid service to compete with TP SA

"Finally there is somebody to compete with TP SA," was the comment made by telecom operators, concerning the new prepaid services offered by Długie Rozmowy (DR), whose shareholder is Nordkapp Equity Partners, an American venture capital fund. DR's prepaid system provides cheaper international and long-distance calls, which can be made after dialing the prefix 1051. A one-minute connection with an American or EU fixed line number will cost zł. 0.49 net. "Our chief attribute is the low price. This is why we are trying to cut down on operational costs. We will also be minimizing advertising expenditure," announced Andrzej Bińkowski, DR's president and shareholder. "This is a good idea, but it is a pity that alternative operators have had to resort to such methods. This proves that our market is still far from competitive. In the future we will have to use unconventional methods to fight against monopolies," commented Netia spokeswoman, Jolanta Ciesielska. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6) K.Ż.