ESIS extension / Poland / Regulatory Developments / Update Memo 2

The following report outlines new developments in the past three months and the state of on-going developments.

Over the period July-October 1999 there have been several regulatory developments in Poland. These may be viewed as part of a continuous process of restructuring and reorganising of the telecommunications sector in Poland according to the rules of the internal market of the European Union. The ongoing changes are stimulated by the preparation and adoption of the National Programme of Preparation for EU membership for Poland. Particular concern has focussed on modernising the Polish Post (Poczta Polska) and Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. (TPSA) in order to incorporate the Polish telecommunication system into the European and global networks. In addition, the state has identified the need to create an environment in which investment in the telecommunications networks and services is more attractive to potential foreign and domestic investors.

In general, regulatory developments in this quarter continue the privatisation process in the telecommunications sector that is taking place in Poland. The developments are steps towards greater liberalisation of the telecoms market.

Regulatory developments that have taken place in Poland during the last quarter are given below.

The next stage of privatisation of the public telecommunications network, TPSA, began in August 1999, when the Ministry of Treasury offered 25-35% of TPSA shares for sale. Some large European and American telecom operators were interested in strategic investment in TPSA. After calls for tender, there are two potential foreign strategic investors on the short-list: France Telecom and SBC. Both should submit final offers by the end of October 1999, and at the beginning of November 1999 the Ministry of Treasury will take a decision about further negotiations.

TPSA has a monopoly on international connections until 2003, including international satellite-based telegraphy and telephony.

On 5 July 1999, Centertel (Idea) was awarded a GSM 999 MHz license, and two other GSM operators, Polkomtel ("Plus" GSM) and Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC) ("Era" GSM), were both awarded the license ETSI/GSM 1800 MHz. PTC received its license on 11 August 1999, and Polkomtel obtained a license on 13 September 1999.

The Polish government is planning to replace the existing Law on Posts and Telecommunications, which covers both telecommunications and posts, with two separate laws for each industry. Adoption of these laws is expected at the end of 1999. Work on restructuring the State-owned enterprise called "Polish Post" has begun in the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. On 2 of September 1999 the Economic Committee of Council of Ministers accepted the Posts Law Project, which should be implemented from April 2001.

4. Tariffs policies

Charges for local and regional calls within a single province rose about 1% in July 1999, while those for long-distance calls have been reduced. The most important reason is introduction of cost-based prices. Another reason for rebalancing tariffs has been to restore the profitability of local networks, because competitive market for local telephony is unlikely to attract much investment. Detailed tariffs of TPSA and other operators are published in the daily press and on Internet web-sites.

The General Inspector for Personal Data Protection is the primary enforcer in data protection. The time limit of 18 months was implemented to enable the adjustment of existing collections of personal data to the new provisions. Collections of personal data are subject to registration under sanction of suspending their processing, or the issuing of an order to destroy such collection by 29 October 1999 (except for data collections that are released from the obligation to register by virtue of the Act).

Please note that this report has been prepared under the sole responsibility of the ESIS II contractors.
It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, nor does the Commission accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein.
The ESIS Team of contractors welcomes any additional information or corrections.