Telecoms - ringing the changes
Parliamentarians are set to review a new package of additional regulations to the country's telecom law, needed in order to keep pace with changes in the European Union's telecom legislation. Next year, however, the government must draft another law to bring Polish regulations into full compliance with a new EU law, which takes effect in July 2003.
The new telecom law will likely be enacted in the second half of 2003 or the first half of 2004, before the country's accession to the union in May 2004. The nations's current telecom act came into effect on Jan. 1, 2001.
In the meantime, the new package of regulations addresses issues such as telephone number transferability, local-loop access - the last few metres of public phone networks connecting users to switches in the national network - and the definition and determination of the marketplace. An amendment to the telecom act had previously been reviewed by Parliament during the summer to correct some defects and loopholes in the existing law.
The regulations enacted under the current telecoms law have failed to create a truly demonopolised market since TPSA still controls about 94% of the country's fixed-line phone service and exploits its power as the dominant operator. At a recent telecoms conference, some industry players stressed that the sector was still far from reaching successful market demonopolisation, although the country's last theoretical step toward total market liberalisation will come on Jan. 1, 2003, when TPSA will lose its monopoly on international long-distance calling services.
While industry players agree the interim regulations will move the sector closer to those of the EU, some contend that they will not bring any drastic changes to the market since the government must soon start working on the new legislation next year.
"The life cycle of the telecom amendment is so short that I do not believe that it will have a huge impact - certainly it will have some impact," said Bogusław Kułakowski, the chairman and chief executive of Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, the country's largest mobile operator.
As one of the crucial areas of the economy, the telecom sector, as in other countries, needs additional investment, especially since the country has only 32 fixed lines per 100 inhabitants, far less than in Euro countries, as well as some other EU candidate countries, such as Cyprus with 63 lines per capita and Malta with 53 lines per capita.
When Poland closed its EU chapter on telecommunications a couple of years ago, the country was obliged to later pass amendments to the current telecom law in order to clear up murky areas as well as to keep current with the union's ever-changing legislation. The EU has reviewed the current appendages to the law and must approve future legislative changes.
"We are not looking at telecoms for telecoms sake, but looking at telecoms as a main driver and a tool to make the economy work," said Paul Verhoef, the director general of the Information Society of the European Commission. He added that as far as the country's telecom chapter was concerned, Brussels saw that "progress is steady and moving forward. We think Poland will be ready in time (for EU membership), but a lot remains to be done."
After the nation joins the EU, competition for investment is expected to become tighter. Industry players emphasised that continued progress with telecom legislation was needed to help jump-start investment in the sector, once the overall economy picked up.
"Telecom investors will only invest if they believe they have a stable regulatory framework," said Chris Woolford of Oftel, the UK's telecommunications regulator.
Others agreed. "Recently we noticed a reduced trust of investors with banks requesting payments of debts," said Paweł Piwowar, president of Oracle Polska. "It is an unfriendly environment. Investors must be patient ... but telecoms must regain the trust of investors."
To expand telecom accessibility and build out the local loop, the country "must see investment by other operators, and the government can take up certain options to assist," said Krzysztof Heller, the undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Infrastructure. Earlier this year, the government talked about creating a new national telecom company comprised of the state's telecom holdings and small privately owned players, as a rival to TPSA. But financing the venture and changing the ownership structures of independent operators which could potentially become part of the enterprise have been major hurdles for the plan.
The new telecom law will likely be enacted in the second half of 2003 or the first half of 2004, before the country's accession to the union in May 2004. The nations's current telecom act came into effect on Jan. 1, 2001.
In the meantime, the new package of regulations addresses issues such as telephone number transferability, local-loop access - the last few metres of public phone networks connecting users to switches in the national network - and the definition and determination of the marketplace. An amendment to the telecom act had previously been reviewed by Parliament during the summer to correct some defects and loopholes in the existing law.
The regulations enacted under the current telecoms law have failed to create a truly demonopolised market since TPSA still controls about 94% of the country's fixed-line phone service and exploits its power as the dominant operator. At a recent telecoms conference, some industry players stressed that the sector was still far from reaching successful market demonopolisation, although the country's last theoretical step toward total market liberalisation will come on Jan. 1, 2003, when TPSA will lose its monopoly on international long-distance calling services.
While industry players agree the interim regulations will move the sector closer to those of the EU, some contend that they will not bring any drastic changes to the market since the government must soon start working on the new legislation next year.
"The life cycle of the telecom amendment is so short that I do not believe that it will have a huge impact - certainly it will have some impact," said Bogusław Kułakowski, the chairman and chief executive of Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, the country's largest mobile operator.
As one of the crucial areas of the economy, the telecom sector, as in other countries, needs additional investment, especially since the country has only 32 fixed lines per 100 inhabitants, far less than in Euro countries, as well as some other EU candidate countries, such as Cyprus with 63 lines per capita and Malta with 53 lines per capita.
When Poland closed its EU chapter on telecommunications a couple of years ago, the country was obliged to later pass amendments to the current telecom law in order to clear up murky areas as well as to keep current with the union's ever-changing legislation. The EU has reviewed the current appendages to the law and must approve future legislative changes.
"We are not looking at telecoms for telecoms sake, but looking at telecoms as a main driver and a tool to make the economy work," said Paul Verhoef, the director general of the Information Society of the European Commission. He added that as far as the country's telecom chapter was concerned, Brussels saw that "progress is steady and moving forward. We think Poland will be ready in time (for EU membership), but a lot remains to be done."
After the nation joins the EU, competition for investment is expected to become tighter. Industry players emphasised that continued progress with telecom legislation was needed to help jump-start investment in the sector, once the overall economy picked up.
"Telecom investors will only invest if they believe they have a stable regulatory framework," said Chris Woolford of Oftel, the UK's telecommunications regulator.
Others agreed. "Recently we noticed a reduced trust of investors with banks requesting payments of debts," said Paweł Piwowar, president of Oracle Polska. "It is an unfriendly environment. Investors must be patient ... but telecoms must regain the trust of investors."
To expand telecom accessibility and build out the local loop, the country "must see investment by other operators, and the government can take up certain options to assist," said Krzysztof Heller, the undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Infrastructure. Earlier this year, the government talked about creating a new national telecom company comprised of the state's telecom holdings and small privately owned players, as a rival to TPSA. But financing the venture and changing the ownership structures of independent operators which could potentially become part of the enterprise have been major hurdles for the plan.
