Spanish Telefonica eager to create a UMTS lobby to obtain fourth license

Luis Lada, head of Telefonica Moviles, and Luis Lopez van Dam, head of Telefonica Intercontinental, have announced their interest in establishing a lobbying forum for the fourth UMTS license in Poland, indicating renewed Spanish interest to enter the domestic telecoms market. Apart from Telefonica, the lobby would include other West European telecom companies which initially declared their interest in the UMTS auction last year but backed out, unsatisfied with the conditions. According to Lada and Lopez, the forum would lobby for an amendment to the telecoms law to introduce another UMTS tender in 2001 instead of simply giving away the fourth license. This would give the purchaser of the fourth license equal competitive opportunity with the other UMTS license holders. (Rzeczpospolita, B3) P.J