TPSA denies hampering DLD service
By : Roseanne Gerin
Telephone monopolist Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) (http://www.tpsa.pl) last week denied charges that it delayed the start of Niezalezny Operator Miedzystrefowy's (NOM) (http://www.nom1044.pl) calling service and should pay the independent operator zl. 81 million ($19.2 million) in lost income during the two firms' negotiations over interconnection arrangements.
NOM launched its domestic long-distance (DLD) calling on July 1, the first of three independent operators to offer such service. The company then said it would sue TPSA to recover lost operating revenue since negotiations with the state-owned operator over interconnection arrangements delayed the start of its service by 13 months. All fixed-line operators must obtain interconnection arrangements with TPSA to use the incumbent's national telecom network. NOM was one of three firms to win a tender for DLD operating licenses in January 2000.
"(The charges) are not true because it's not our responsibility," said Piotr Gawron, TPSA's spokesman. "It's the responsibility of the Communications Ministry because the telecommunications law is not very clear and has thousands of little mistakes." He said he could not provide further comment since TPSA would issue its official response to NOM's charges early this week.
NOM said TPSA has seven days to respond to the written request for compensation that it sent to the national operator last Wednesday. Nevertheless, NOM expects to file a lawsuit. "We are sure the response will be negative, and (we will) sue them for the costs," Gruszka said.
NOM originally said it would sue TPSA for more than zl. 200 million ($47.6 million), but lowered the amount to zl. 81 million last week after its attorneys determined that the company could only prove claims for six months of delayed service, Gruszka said.
Three weeks ago, NOM also filed a complaint against TPSA with the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) charging the national incumbent with unfair business practices. Gruszka said UOKiK had not yet issued a response.
Gruszka also said NOM needed more network space from TPSA to offer its DLD service to all of Poland. Last December, the Communications Ministry allotted network space to NOM, but the independent operator has asked TPSA to increase it by 300%. So far, TPSA has increased the space by 15-16%, Gruszka said.
"We don't have enough space at the moment," said Gawron, adding that DLD network areas also must be given to Netia and Energis Polska, the two other independent operators who will offer inter-city calling service later this year. "We dedicated all spaces for (NOM), and we have a special procedure for controlling that." TPSA has an agreement with NOM to expand its space, he added.
