Tele2 promises mobile market shake-up
Frederik de Lerigon, Tele2's CEO, said the company would enter a bid, providing the government didn't prove "too greedy." Envisaging the cost of building a 3G network in the UMTS standard to be around zł.4.5 billion (e1 billion), he reveals that the firm would not be prepared to pay "even a half of that amount" for the license.
And in a country noted for the highest telecoms charges in Europe, he is convinced that Tele2, which already operates a 3G network in Sweden and is an independent fixed-line operator here, would be able to undercut the established operators on price.
"In the situation now, the market is not at all saturated. You have extremely high rates for consumers as a result of very little competition," de Lerigon explains, pointing out that even in Lithuania, with almost one tenth of Poland's population and less spending power, there are more mobile telecoms operators than here.
However, Elżbieta Ptaszyńska-Sadowska, a spokesperson for competitor Polkomtel, disagrees, deeming the market to be "relatively small" and questioning "whether there is a place for a newcomer to run a profitable business [in Poland]."
And while de Lerigon asserts that Tele2 would be "a much needed competitor in this market," the firm does not like the idea of paying fees upwards of zł.2.9 billion (e650 million), something which PTC, Centertel, and Polkomtel coughed up a few years ago to get their UMTS licenses.
"That was a different environment, and those companies made conscious business decisions to go ahead with getting those licenses. The price should not be that high this time around," de Lerigon says, adding, "Higher licensing fees mean less coverage, and less money for developing the networks, and eventually overall less for the consumer."
However, Tele2 could be batting on a sticky wicket if the three established telecoms operators decide to dig in and protect their stakes in the market by outbidding Tele2 for the tender. And although the three established operators have not commented on whether they would try to do this, Witold Graboś, a spokesperson for the president of the Office for Telecommunications and Post Regulation (URTiP), confirms that the existing legal framework does not prevent the existing three operators from effectively blocking Tele2's participation.
And should this happen, it would be the end-user who would suffer the consequence, as, in de Lerigon's words, the Polish consumer would "have to live with higher prices."
And in a country noted for the highest telecoms charges in Europe, he is convinced that Tele2, which already operates a 3G network in Sweden and is an independent fixed-line operator here, would be able to undercut the established operators on price.
"In the situation now, the market is not at all saturated. You have extremely high rates for consumers as a result of very little competition," de Lerigon explains, pointing out that even in Lithuania, with almost one tenth of Poland's population and less spending power, there are more mobile telecoms operators than here.
However, Elżbieta Ptaszyńska-Sadowska, a spokesperson for competitor Polkomtel, disagrees, deeming the market to be "relatively small" and questioning "whether there is a place for a newcomer to run a profitable business [in Poland]."
And while de Lerigon asserts that Tele2 would be "a much needed competitor in this market," the firm does not like the idea of paying fees upwards of zł.2.9 billion (e650 million), something which PTC, Centertel, and Polkomtel coughed up a few years ago to get their UMTS licenses.
"That was a different environment, and those companies made conscious business decisions to go ahead with getting those licenses. The price should not be that high this time around," de Lerigon says, adding, "Higher licensing fees mean less coverage, and less money for developing the networks, and eventually overall less for the consumer."
However, Tele2 could be batting on a sticky wicket if the three established telecoms operators decide to dig in and protect their stakes in the market by outbidding Tele2 for the tender. And although the three established operators have not commented on whether they would try to do this, Witold Graboś, a spokesperson for the president of the Office for Telecommunications and Post Regulation (URTiP), confirms that the existing legal framework does not prevent the existing three operators from effectively blocking Tele2's participation.
And should this happen, it would be the end-user who would suffer the consequence, as, in de Lerigon's words, the Polish consumer would "have to live with higher prices."
