EC forces UKE to lift fine on TP SA

2007-05-17

The European Commission (EC) has ordered the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) to withdraw the fine imposed on TP SA for charging excessive fees for internet access.
The Polish regulator decided to fine the incumbent operator PLN 339m (€89.7m) for charging subscribers a line maintenance fee of PLN 35 (€9.3m) if they were signed up for neostrada broadband which was not bundled with voice subscription. The UKE insisted that the fee is not based on the actual costs of providing the service and that the operator has not proven that the neostrada subscription fee does not cover line maintenance.
The EC stated that the fine was imposed on the basis of an invalid definition of a relevant market. The Commission insisted that the regulator is not entitled to interfere with the end-user rates and that the only means of regulating the broadband market is action on the wholesale market, relating to the prices and rules of access to the TP SA network for the operator’s competitors.
The UKE has abandoned the relevant market definition questioned by the EC, and the Commission has recently acknowledged the new analysis of the fixed-line service access market, which does not include broadband. The UKE must, therefore, now nullify the fine.
The fine relating to the matter of the line maintenance fee was the highest ever imposed by the telecoms market watchdog in Poland.
The regulator has said, however, that it will not withdraw the fine. The UKE insists, that the EC did not mention the penalty in the document sent to the Office and that the fine will not, therefore, be lifted. It stated also that the matter will be decided by the Polish courts.

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