Brussels, 11/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 8 February, the European Commission asked the Polish telecoms regulatory authority (UKE) to withdraw its proposal to deregulate the access conditions for other operators to the broadband network of Polish telecom company Telekomunikacja Polska (TP) in 11 communes of Poland. The Commission considers that UKE's decision could have a negative effect on competition in Poland and thus limit the offers available to consumers and businesses. This is the second time in six months that the Commission has asked UKE to withdraw a proposal for regulation in this market (see EUROPE 10676). In the view of European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes, while the regulation can and should be withdrawn as soon as it is clearly proved that competition alone will give the best choices to consumers, she cannot accept “a proposal for deregulation which is based on outdated and unreliable data, contradicted by UKE's own more recent market assessment”. Kroes also regrets that UKE does not take account of the clear guidelines that the Commission brought out to help UKE regulate this important market properly.
In the Commission's opinion, UKE's proposal is based on an outdated market assessment from March 2011, which contradicts UKE's own March 2012 market analysis in which the regulator concluded that no single area of Poland was competitive enough to propose complete deregulation. Over the course of the two month in-depth investigation, UKE failed to provide additional evidence allowing the Commission to withdraw its serious doubts. BEREC has fully supported the Commission's decision and has asked UKE to withdraw its measure. (IL/transl.fl)