URTiP withdraws zl. 350 million fine against TPSA

The Telecommunications and Postal Regulation Office (URTiP) has withdrawn two penalties worth a total of zl. 350 million that had been previously imposed on Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. (TPSA) for supplying false information and providing too few connection points to competing long-distance phone operator NOM. In supporting its decision, URTiP said that the former Telecommunications Regulation Office (URT) had made legal mistakes in levying the penalties. Witold Grabos, president of URTiP, said that TPSA had agreed recently to withdraw lawsuits it had filed against the URT related to granting TPSA a telecommunications permit. TPSA had also objected to being recognized as a "dominant player" on the telecom market, a label which would have placed certain restrictions on the company. As a result of talks with URTiP, TPSA acknowledged that it is a dominant player. According to Grabos, "TPSA was intentionally using legal obstruction tactics and loopholes in the law to protract court procedures." (Rzeczpospolita, p. B3) P.W.