New URT head to focus on industry disputes
Kazimierz Ferenc, the new president of the Telecommunications Regulatory Office (URT), said last week that his main goal will be to handle disputes related to interconnection charges for voice and data-transmission services.
Ferenc, a former deputy interior minister, was appointed president of the telecommunications watchdog by outgoing Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek on Oct. 12 after Marek Zdrojewski, the agencys first president, resigned due to personal reasons.
According to URT spokesman Jacek Strzałkowski, Ferenc will resolve a dispute between the telecom giant Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) and the countrys three mobile operators about interconnection charges for call terminations in the mobile networks. Interconnection charges are fees telecom firms pay to other operators for using their networks.
Ferenc also said he would issue a decision about the interconnection charges that telecom firms Netia 1 and Niezależny Operator Międzystrefowy (NOM) must pay to TPSA for domestic long-distance service. Additional tasks will be to decide on the interconnection charges between telephone network operators and Internet service providers as well as to prepare a report on voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) service, which enables phone calls and faxes to be sent over Internet-based data networks. In addition, Ferenc, whose office also oversees the distribution of radio frequencies, will review the extension of licenses held by small radio stations and work on preparing a frequency management plan, Strzałkowski said.
As a former deputy interior minister, Ferencs responsibilities included issues related to the development of information technology and communications. He is chairman of the governments Information Technology Council and one of the authors of the electronic-signature law passed last month.
Ferencs tenure, however, may be temporary since newly appointed Prime Minister Leszek Miller could replace him as part of the general reappointments of leaders in various government departments and agencies. The URT was created by the Telecommunications Law, which took effect at the beginning of last January.
