NOM, Netia and Energis prepare to take on TPSA

Three companies are preparing to take on state-owned monopoly Telekomunikacja Polska SA (TPSA) on the long distance telephone market. According to a report in the Rzeczpospolita daily, NOM, Netia, and Energis Polska were granted the concession a year ago, but they will have to wait until July 1 to launch their service, since that is the earliest date TPSA will allow them to start using its network. Marcin Gruszka, spokesman for Polish company NOM, says, "The new TPSA prices are exactly the same as what NOM is planning to introduce. We're getting ready to begin delivering services across the whole country on July 1." As for Netia, which already has 350,000 customers in Poland, its spokesperson, Jolanta Ciesielska, says, "Our prices can be even lower than those of TPSA. However, we signed the agreement with TPSA later than intended, so Netia will begin offering its service on August 1, in 15 regions." The third company, the mainly British-owned Energis Polska, is planning to introduce its service later in the year. "We're aiming chiefly at business clients, but we will provide our services to anyone who is interested," said George Makowski, chairman of Energis Polska. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 20, Rzeczpospolita, p. B3) A.K.