Telefonia Lokalna announces plans to invest zl.625 mn to expand network

Telecom operator Telefonia Lokalna (TL) will invest zl.625 million in 2001 to expand its network, according to the company's president, Jaroslaw Marek Janiszewski. Industry pundits contend that this fact, together with a PKO BP-organized zl.800 million short-term credit the company is scheduled to receive, would seem to suggest that its owner, copper concern KGHM, is looking for an investor for TL as quickly as possible. Lokalna so far has been the fastest private telecom operator to create a network and develop its customer base. In 2000 it spent more than zl.400 million on its development and currently has 157,000 customers; it predicts the number of its customers to reach 250,000 in 2001. Lokalna puts its revenue this year at zl.280 million, compared to zl.180 million last year. TL says it will invest zl.30 million in its Internet access services in the short term. (Puls Biznesu, p.7; Prawo i Gospodarka, p.3) M. S.-C.