TPSA contenders: Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, SBC

The stake is considered to be worth some $2-$3 billion. TPSA needs another estimated $3 billion in investments so that it can compete with foreign operators, once they are allowed to enter the Polish market on Jan. 1, 2003. France Telecom has already invested $150 million in Poland, mainly in mobile telephone company Centertel, which it co-owns with TPSA. Deutsche Telekom, meanwhile, holds 22.5% in rival mobile network Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC), operator of the Era GSM network. "Foreign investors" interest in the TPSA privatization is definitely to be expected, but I don"t expect many investors. Two-three consortia at the most," said PriceWaterhouseCoopers analyst Jerzy Kalinowski. (Rzeczpospolita, page 14)