Room for one more?

Netia president and member of Netia Mobile's supervisory board, Wojciech Mądalski, said: "EUR 300 (zł.1,212) million will be spent on covering initial registration and operating costs. The contribution of Novator stands at EUR 210 (zł.848) million and EUR 90 (zł.363) million from Netia. These are our total outlays on the activities of the new operator. We might introduce new shareholders to the company."

The deadline for granting UMTS frequencies to Netia Mobile, who had won a tender against the Hong Kong concern Hutchinson Whampoa, was August 16. However, as a result of complaints filed by the other three mobile-phone operators - Idea, Era and Plus GSM - the telecoms regulator had trouble processing the motion on time.

PTK Centertel, the owner of Idea, announced it will demand damages if the concession the company has to pay for UMTS frequencies is not diminished to zł.345 million. In 2000, Centertel was granted the frequencies for zł.2.6 billion and has so far paid over zł.1 billion, which means Netia Mobile would pay eight times less. Polkomtel and PTC are soon likely to raise similar protests.

Netia Mobile estmates their sale of mobile services will bring them a zł.100 million profit after the first full year of operation and zł.400 million within the five-year period. The company has not yet announced under what brand name it is going to operate.