Netia considering mergers in bid to compete with TPSA

Telecom operator Netia said yesterday it was discussing mergers with local rivals but saw little chance of signing deals before the second half of the year due to a regulatory snag. Netia and other operators have applied for a government offer of license-fee waivers in exchange for investment commitments. According to Netia's CEO Wojciech Madalski, the government has promised final decisions by the end of June. Mergers are widely seen as the only way for operators like Netia and KGHM's Telefonia Dialog to compete with TPSA, which still controls over 90% of the fixed-line market despite liberalization. When it announced a first-quarter loss of zł. 80 million, on revenues of zł. 161 million earlier yesterday, Netia said its outstanding license obligations stood at zł. 403 million on March 31. (Reuters; Puls Biznesu, pp. 9,21; Parkiet, p.8) J.K.