Brussels, 27/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Commission considers that changes made to the outstanding financial obligations of Polish telecommunications operators do not constitute State aid. The liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in Poland in the 1990s allowed new operators access to the networks and services supply market, subject to the purchase of licences at elevated prices. The historical operator, Telekomunikacja Polska, on the other hand, was able to continue to operate without having to buy a licence. After 2001, access conditions gradually changed, and the licences were cancelled and replaced by simple authorisations, in line with the Community framework. In order to take account of this change, the Polish authorities then adopted a law revising the outstanding obligations of the telecommunications companies, extending the deadlines for payments of outstanding debts for licences and providing for debt to be written off and for unpaid debt to be converted into company shares. The Commission took the view that these measures did not include any elements of State aid, as they provided the companies in question with no economic advantage. The law "aims to put Polish telecommunications operators on an equal footing; this will boost competition on the market to the benefit of consumers, without providing any advantage to any particular operator over any others", Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes explained.