Inter-city competition for TPSA is looming on the horizon

Consumer choice will continue to be limited for the near future when it comes to choosing an intercity telephone provider. However, Poland's largest telecom operator Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. (TPSA) will get some competition after July 1 when Netia 1 becomes the first company, apart from TPSA, to be licensed to provide inter-city services. Netia 1 is in talks with TPSA regarding future co-operation on technical matters, such as the installation of Netia 1 antennas on TPSA property and the fact that 20% of TPSA telephone exchanges are not prepared for allowing other operators to use their lines to provide inter-city connections. In order to offer inter-city connections, Netia 1 will have to pay an as-yet-to-be-agreed tariff to TPSA for use of its lines. TPSA's proposed tariff is much higher than European Union (EU) tariffs. The Telecommunications Ministry says this is because TPSA has too many employees and too high a level of weighted average cost of capital (WACC). (Rzeczpospolita, A1, B1) M.M.