NOM to offer DLD services in January
Niezalezny Operator Miedzystrefowy (NOM), one of the three telecom consortia that won the domestic long-distance license tender in January, will start offering calling service at the end of the year pending the resolution of its disagreement with national incumbent operator Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) over interconnection terms, a company executive said last week.
Wlodzimierz Strzeminski, the president of NOM, said that on Dec. 4 the company expected to receive an arbitration ruling from the Communications Ministry about its interconnection arrangement with TPSA, but that this ruling would likely be issued later this month since TPSA would have one week to issue a response with a possible protest if it did not agree with the terms. "This is the rule of the game," Strzeminski said. "We don't have access to the final customers, and we need to cooperate with the local operator."
In order for independent telecom operators to connect their callers for domestic long-distance (DLD) service, they must sign agreements with TPSA to pay fees for hooking into the national incumbent's networks and switching systems. TPSA controls about 95% of Poland's telephone lines.
NOM filed an arbitration request with the Communications Ministry on Oct. 4 when it objected to TPSA's interconnection terms. Under the current telecom law, the ministry has 60 days after receiving a request to issue a ruling. Prior to issuing a final ruling, however, the ministry must submit its decision to the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) for final approval.
Przemyslaw Sypniewski, an adviser to Communications Minister Tomasz Szyszko, said that the UOKiK approved the ministry's ruling on the issue and that TPSA had until Dec. 5 to respond. Although he declined to specifically say if the ministry ruled in favor of NOM, Sypniewski said that the decision "favored the liberalization of the (telecom) market."
NOM disagreed with TPSA on 25 points in the interconnection terms, specifically regarding customer billing arrangements and the fees it would have to pay the incumbent for using its network, said Hanna Kontkiewicz-Chachulska, NOM's director of strategy and marketing.
Strzeminski said that NOM wanted restitution from TPSA for lost income since the company had not been able to offer services, but that it would wait until the arbitration decision had been issued before deciding to take any legal action against the incumbent.
NOM was set up last year by the Polish Power Grid (PSE), its subsidiary Tel-Energo and oil company Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen to take advantage of telecom liberalization in Poland. The company has a fiber-optic network using PSE's existing communications infrastructure. This summer, NOM started to prepare its telecom network and billing and information technology systems for operation. Strzeminski said that NOM was spending "hundred of millions (of zloty)" on its preparations, but declined to name a specific amount.
The company plans to offer DLD service to both corporate and residential clients, Strzeminski said, and may offer international long-distance and local calling service once the Polish telecom market is fully liberalized in 2003.
NOM received its domestic long-distance operating license in May 2000 after paying E23 million. Netia 1, a subsidiary of Netia Holding, also received a DLD license.
The third consortia, National Grid Koleje Telekomunikacja had not paid for its license because of concerns it has about telecom regulations.
Last week, the UOKiK approved interconnection terms for Netia 1, which was also awarded DLD licenses in January. Netia had sent a formal request to the Communications Ministry on Sept. 18 to arbitrate its own disagreement with TPSA.
Magdalena Wierzchowska contributed to this article
