Infrastructure Ministry, URT claim UMTS may have to be delayed by a year

The government and the Telecoms Regulatory Office (URT) are in favor of postponing the introduction of third generation UMTS by a year. Speaking before the Sejm Infrastructure Commission, deputy Infrastructure Minister Krzysztof Heller said postponement was highly likely, in view of delays in the introduction of UMTS in Western Europe, the poor condition of the domestic telecoms market, and the lack of the latest technology. In other comments, Heller said the government wants to increase competitiveness on the telecoms market, for example by strengthening the role of the URT. He said that currently the charges imposed by dominant operator Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) are higher than in any other OECD country. He said that the fees for such services as installation, connection and subscription are 20% higher than the average across the OECD. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2; Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 5) P.W.