As first reported in Oftel News 49, Oftel is the lead partner in the EU-funded project to help Poland’s accession to the European Union, bringing Poland’s communications regime into line with EU requirements.

The project, scheduled to run to November 2001, got underway in October last year with the permanent location of Oftel’s pre-accession advisor, Chris Woolford, in Warsaw. It covers both telecommunications (including radiocommunications) and postal regimes. Oftel’s partners in the Project are the Swedish Regulator, PTS, which has the lead role on advising on the postal regime, and the DTI’s Radiocommunications Agency (RA).

Since the last issue, work on telecommunications has moved forward significantly. Immediate plans are to complete the postal work, to consolidate and deepen the work on telecoms and to begin work on radiocommunications.

The Telecommunications Law (TL), the primary legislation, was passed in July 2000. An independent Telecomms Regulator and his Office, the URT, have now been established and key personnel identified, speeding progress of the project.

Since February, experts from Oftel and its project partners have held a series of workshops and seminars attended by URT and Ministry representatives.

These workshops have focussed key issues central to an effective regime, including licensing; interconnection and accounting separation; significant market power; numbering issues crucial to the development of competition; Universal Service; and strategic issues centering around the promotion of competition. More workshops on accounting requirements are planned, as is a further seminar on interconnection principles.

These key issues mirror requirements of the TL, which provides for passing of secondary legislation to flesh out the TL’s high level principles into more detailed regulatory processes and practice.

Several seminars have linked directly into the drafting of secondary legislation, for example; on Significant Market Power and accounting. Two workshops on licensing were similarly geared to another of the TL requirements: the issue by URT of a first ever licence for the Polish incumbent fixed service operator, TPSA.

One seminar in February focussed on the underlying principles and main features of an effectively competitive environment, with particular emphasis on the role of accounting separation and its implementation.

Other workshops have covered issues including implementation of EC Directives on number portability (an area where Poland does not yet fully comply with EU requirements), Carrier Pre-Selection and the principles of the Universal Service Obligation.

The Project team has also briefed Marek Zdrojewski, the President of URT, and other senior staff, on appropriate strategies for a regulator seeking to meet the requirements of the EU. This workshop concentrated on the fundamental questions of how to achieve effective competition, as the best way of securing a regulatory regime that delivers the Community’s objectives.

Over the course of the next few months work is expected to begin on consumer issues, spectrum monitoring, emergency situations and competition investigations.

In May, Marek Zdrojewskiwill visit the UK at the invitation of David Edmonds, Oftel’s Director General. for high level meetings at Oftel and the Radiocommunications Agency to review key issues and the Project’s progress.

For further information contact:

Chris Woolford, Pre-Accession Adviser in Poland
(tel: 00 48 22 60-88-247/ e-mail: c.woolford@urt.gov.pl)

John Bean, project leader UK
(tel: 020 7634 8821 / e-mail: john.bean@oftel.gov.uk)

Paul Lonsdale, co-ordinator UK
(tel: 020 7634 8866 / e-mail: paul.lonsdale@oftel.gov.uk)