An extraordinary dispute between Poland’s Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) and France Telecom-backed TPSA over its Internet access charges has escalated. The regulator believes the latter to be excessive and has imposed a record fine of PLN339 million (€87.2 million) on the incumbent telco. Talks between the two parties aimed at resolving the issue have just broken down, and both have powerful backers supporting their respective positions. While the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party says it stands full square behind the UKE, the European Commission (EC) has declared that in its view the UKE has exceeded its powers, which should only be limited to regulating telephony charges. TPSA is currently the leading provider of ADSL Internet access in Poland, with its Neostrada service being received in at least 1.7 million homes. (CD)
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