Ministry moves to help resolve billing dispute between NOM and TPSA

The Infrastructure Ministry has stepped in to help resolve a disagreement ov er zl.230 million owed to industry giant Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) by it s independent rival NOM. In July last year the Telecommunications Regulatory Office (URT) failed to broker an agreement between the two parties in their dispute over billing methods, settlement rates and the technical conditions for connecting the NOM network with that of TPSA. Now a meeting has been hel d between Krzysztof Heller, Undersecretary of State at the Infrastructure Mi nistry, and representatives of the NOM management. TPSA spokesman Witold Rat aj has expressed the hope that the problem can be resolved as soon as possib le. NOM currently owes TPSA zl.80 million, and users of its long-distance se rvice, who have not received bills because of the dispute, owe zl.150 millio n. (Puls Biznesu, p. 3) M.T.