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Poland - Market Intelligence Report
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Market Intelligence Reports provide an invaluable mix of vital market data and background information, including telecoms regulation. In September 2004, Poland's authorities passed a new Telecommunications Act, which superseded the existing legislation from 2000 and implemented all of the recent European Commission (EC) directives regarding the regulation of the broader electronic communications market. The new legislation also provided for greater liberalisation of the Polish telecommunications market and was expected to go some way towards providing the support structure that new entrants needed in competing with the well-entrenched incumbent operator, Telekomunikacja Polska SA (TP SA). In particular, the 2004 version of the Telecommunications Act has introduced tight regulatory control over cost calculations and pricing of telecommunications services, a wide range of obligations related to providing access to telecommunications networks, and a stable basis for activities of virtual telecommunications providers. It also enables the national regulatory authority, the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) to clearly determine and identify those operators holding a significant market presence (SMP) in 18 designated markets, a process that is now underway, but which has stalled due to incompatibilities with the regulator's approach to conducting market analyses and the EC's preferred approach. This situation should be largely resolved later in 2007. For the time being, however, TP SA is determined to be the sole SMP operator in the fixed-line market, while its cellular/3G subsidiary, PTK Centertel, has SMP in the mobile communications sector, along with rivals PTC and Polkomtel. TP SA remains the largest telecommunications operator by a considerable margin, serving more than 10 million fixed-line subscribers at the end of 2006; according to the company itself, it had an 88.5% share of the local connections market, an 80.8% share of the local calls market, a 76.2% share of the domestic long-distance calls market, a 67.6% share of the international long-distance calls market, and a 78.9% share of the fixed-to-mobile calls market at the end of 2006. Poland's domestic long-distance telecommunications market was liberalised at the beginning of 2001 and a number of Europe's leading international carriers moved quickly to establish a presence in Poland. The new entrants had gained a combined market share of 23.8% by the end of 2006. Tele2, Netia, GTS Energis Polska, and NOM are the principal competitors to TP SA in the domestic long-distance market. The international long-distance market was opened to competition at the beginning of 2003 and, by the end of 2006, the new entrants were accounting for 32.4% of the market. Alternative service providers active in this market at the end of 2006 included: Tele2, GTS Energis Polska, Telefonia Dialog, Dlugie Rozmowy, Netia, and NOM. By the end of 2006, Elektrim/Deutsche Telekom-controlled Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa was serving approximately 12.2 million cellular customers (detailed information was not forthcoming at the time of writing). It had a market share of around 33.2% at that time, relinquishing its lead to TP SA-owned Centertel. Now operating under the Orange brand, Centertel's 12.52 million customers gave it a market share of 34.1%. Vodafone-controlled Polkomtel's approximate 12 million customers (detailed information was not forthcoming) gave it a 32.7% share of the market at the end of 2006. PTC and Polkomtel activated their 3G UMTS networks in late-2004; Centertel launched its 3G offering towards the end of 2005. All three companies have since launched advanced wireless data platforms based on high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) technology. A fourth UMTS licence was auctioned in 2005; this went to P4, a company owned by Netia and Novator. P4 launched its UMTS service in March 2007. A GSM 1800 licence was auctioned in 2006, but was returned to the regulator when the bidder proved unable to pay its licence fee. The fixed-to-mobile market was opened to competition in October 2003, allowing UKE to license mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) for the first time, but no MVNOs had entered into service agreements with network operators until late-2006.
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