Telecom Ministry delays granting Netia Warsaw license

Telecommunications Minister Tomasz Szyszko has delayed granting Netia a telecom license for the Warsaw region until June 30. The sixty-day period the Minister was to take to grant the license expired yesterday. Ministerial aid Piotr Brudnicki said the Minister is not obliged to make any decisions as long as the proceedings concerning possible threats to the national economy, defense, and security are in progress. The Treasury Ministry said Netia had not submitted all the necessary documentation to show it met safety requirements necessary to obtain a license. Elektrim S.A. has said it would challenge Netia's license in court, saying Telecom Ministry officials assured its subsidiary El-Net would be the only competitor against Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) in Warsaw until the full liberalization of the local calls market, scheduled for 2002. However Szyszko yesterday signed a license for Telefonia Lokalna. (Puls Biznesu, page 3, Reuters) E.B.