TP won't hang up on higher charges

The president of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), Cezary Banasiński, has fined Telekomunikacja Polska (TP) zł.12 million. UOKiK says the dominant telecom operator was limiting competition by increasing tariffs on numbers with 0-708-1 prefixes.

In October, alternative operator Netia accused TP of abusing its position on the market after TP imposed the price hike. The number was originally used by alternative operators to offer services such as horoscopes and party lines, but they also began to offer long-distance and international calls on the prefix. The subscriber pays for the connection to his or her provider, which later squares accounts with the operators that own the prefix number. Until fall last year, the cost of the connection provided by TP was zł.0.35 gross. This was significantly lower than the cheapest international call offered by TP, priced at zł.0.73 gross.

Then, in October, TP raised its prices for the 0-708-1 connection to zł.0.71, at the same time lowering the tariffs for its international calls and introducing attractive free-minute offers. "The penetration and vast subscriber resources of TP mean that by setting prices the company regulates the conditions for the vast majority of Polish subscribers," Banasiński's decision reads. According to the statement, TP's decision was taken to limit competition and eliminate alternative operators.

However, the telecom giant says it will contest UOKiK's decision. According to a statement from TP: "We are currently preparing an appeal to the Court for Protection of Competition and Consumers [SOKiK]. We hope that SOKiK, like so many times before, will agree with our opinion." Since 1996 the anti-monopoly office has fined the telecom zł.124.4 million, but TP has successfully appealed many of these decisions, and seen its fines reduced or annulled.