Polish telecoms regulator UKE said it plans to cut mobile termination rates in two phases in 2013, in a small concession to mobile operators who say they would be hard hit by the cuts.
According to Reuters, Polish operators TPSA, Deutsche Telekom's PTC, and Polkomtel will see the prices they are able to charge each other to terminate calls on their networks reduced by 33 per cent at the start of 2013 and then by a further 52 per cent to a final 0.0429 zlotys (€0.01) per minute in July 2013.
The move is also set to end MTR asymmetry in Poland: the fourth-largest player, P4, currently charges higher fees than the top three, which control around 84 per cent of the market.
The move represents a small concession since UKE chief Magdalena Gaj had wanted to eliminate MTR completely in 2013, according to Reuters.
The moves by the Polish regulator are in line with general efforts by the European Union to bring down the costs of mobile phone bills.
Separately, UKE has also outlined plans to launch a tender "in the next few days" for frequencies in the 1800 MHz band, according to a report on Polish site Rpkom.pl. Following a consultation period, the licence validity will be extended from 10 to 15 years, and the period for submitting applications will be at least 60 days. Winning operators will be required to start using the frequencies within 12 months of the licence award.
For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this Rpkom.pl article (translated via Google Translate)
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