French push telecom regulatory body for Poland
While Poland's politicians were undergoing a crash course in the finer details of the constitution amid the government's collapse last week, a handful of parliamentarians were being tutored in French law. Telecom law, that is.
Roger Chinaud, a member of the governing body of the French Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ART), was in Poland last Thursday to discuss the raison d'etre of France's independent telecom regulatory office. He was invited by members of the Sejm's committee on transport, communication, trade and services, which is responsible for drafting Poland's telecom legislation. About 25 lawmakers, journalists and telecom firm officials attended the conference.
The invitation for Chinaud to speak came at a time when Polish lawmakers are debating a new law that would recast the country's telecom framework based on European Union (EU) mandates for full market liberalization and transparency. The key change the new law would effect would be the creation of an independent telecommunications regulatory body, similar to regulatory agencies in other EU countries, to ensure a fair and competitive marketplace and enforce compliance with telecom regulations.
The most important piece of advice the French regulator offered was that "the future Polish regulatory authority should preserve its independence at any price and should not be run by a government appointed regulator," said Marek Podhorecki, an independent corporate telecommunications consultant who arranged Chinaud's visit on behalf of Karol Dzialoszynski, the chairman of the Sejm's subcommittee on the new telecommunications law. He added that Chinaud also emphasized that the size of the regulator's staff should be limited to a manageable number of employees. ART employs 144 staff members.
Poland's new telecommunications law in its current form calls for a single regulator to be appointed by the prime minister to run the country's telecommunications regulatory office. The regulator will serve a five-year term, and can be dismissed only if he commits a crime. At present, the Communications Ministry oversees the telecommunications market and is responsible for issuing operating licenses. The Communications minister is a political appointee who is selected by and can be dismissed by the prime minister.
The new telecommunication law was passed by the Sejm in May and is currently being reviewed in the Senate, which voted on amendments to the law last Friday. The amended legislation will likely be returned to the Sejm this week for final approval, Podhorecki said. One of the Senate's key amendments takes issue with the selection of the regulator by the prime minister. The Senate's amendment proposes that the regulator be chosen according to competitive recruitment procedures by a committee set up by the prime minister, he said. The act is expected to be signed into law this summer.
Chinaud's visit coincided with the ongoing final negotiations between France Telecom and the Treasury Ministry for the French operator's purchase of a 35% stake in Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA), Poland's national telecom monopolist. A consortium of France Telecom and Poland's Kulczyk Holding was selected as the winner of the tender for the stake last month.
Magdalena Wierzchowska contributed to this article.
