TPSA appeals interconnect ruling, Netia charges stalling

Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. (TP SA) is appealing the Telecoms Ministry arbitration decision regarding the fees TPSA will charge Netia for interconnection of its long-distance calls. The interconnection settlement returned by the Ministry has already been approved by the Consumer and Competition Protection Office (UOKiK) and Netia, but TP SA asked for disputable issues to be examined again. The dispute will now go back to the Ministry, and if it does not make a decision by the end of this year, the Telecoms Regulation Office (URT) will look into it. "We view this as stalling by TP SA. This is typical behavior of a monopolist, who simply does not want to give up the market," said Netia spokeswoman Jolanta Ciesielska. As the second largest telecom operator in Poland, Netia is TP SA's primary competitor. The dispute regarding long-distance interconnection fees has been going on for several months now. (Prawo i Gospodarka, page 11) T.J.