TP takes it on the chin

The head of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), Anna Streżyńska, is determined to help increase the number of internet users in Poland. Last week, UKE imposed a record fine of zł.100 million on Telekomunikacja Polska (TP) for binding its internet provider service Neostrada to phone subscription. TP thinks that UKE's decision is unjustifiable and it will appeal.

In response to TP's reluctance to pay the fine, Streżyńska is now considering upping the ante to three percent of the company's sales. Last year, TP's unconsolidated revenues reached zł.12.2 billion. Three percent of this would equal zł.366 million.

"It all depends on how talks with the firm proceed, and a decision should be known in mid-October," Streżyńska said.

At the end of last year, there were some 1.14 million Neostrada subscribers, which gave TP a 66-percent share in the market for broadband internet access. According to UKE, there are some 39 internet providers in Poland who offer services for individual customers, but only six are serious competitors to TP. These include: UPC (14 percent), Aster City (eight percent), Dialog (four percent) Multimedia Polska (three percent), Vectra (three percent) and Netia (two percent).

The number of Poles using a dial-up internet connection at home fell from 48 percent in 2004 to 26 percent last year, while the number of broadband users is on the rise. Last year, some 37 percent of Poles had DSL access and 14 percent used the internet via cable TV.

Last week's zł.100-million penalty is not the first time UKE has imposed a fine on TP. In the last four years, UKE has imposed six other fines on the operator, which total zł.15.25 million. However, only one of these fines, to the tune of zł.1 million, is legally binding. As far as the others are concerned, TP has appealed against them and is still waiting on the court rulings.

Although UKE may be getting tougher on TP, it is also keeping an eye on other operators. In August this year, it fined mobile phone companies Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (zł.100,000), Centertel (zł.200,000) and Polkomtel (zł.300,000) for overcharging on number portability fees (a fee paid to keep the same number when you change operator), while in July it fined GTS Energis (zł.500,000) for not providing UKE with all the required documentation. (Reuters)