Poland: Regulator to delay TPSA breakup

It looks like Poland's telecom regulator UKE (Office of Electronic Communications) is going to delay the functional division of the country's incumbent telco Telekomunikacja Polska SA. In a press conference yesterday, UKE head Anna Strezynska said that the regulator has delayed the process until the end of 2009 and also may drop the plan by next year. Similar to other countries such as the U.K., the UKE initiated a mandate that would have required TPSA would have to break up its retail and wholesale divisions in an effort to foster greater competition in Poland's telecom market.

Not surprisingly, TPSA, which has argued against breaking up the company, had pledged to increase capex spending on its wireline network over the next three years. To prove that it's making an effort to create competition, TPSA officials said that it had been working to grant competitive carriers access to its wireline network.

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- Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones has this article

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