Telekomunikacja Polska must pay a PLN 20 million fine for competition-breaching practices. Today, the Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the President of UOKiK

The decision was issued by the President of the Office in January 2004. The President challenged the practices of Telekomunikacja Polska, which aimed to restrict competition on the market of dial-up Internet access using a special telephone number (starting with 0-20). Telekomunikacja Polska held a dominant position on the domestic market of interoperator connections with respect to this type of Internet access, providing services to 93% of all fixed-line subscribers. Internet Service Providers who wanted to use TP’s infrastructure to provide their services we supposed to sign a so-called interoperator cooperation agreement with TP, which would specify the terms of mutual settlements. TP received first requests for signing such agreements already in 1996, however, by the time when the Office issued its decision in 2004, the company did not sign any interoperator agreements with the ISPs.

The President of UOKiK stated that the fact that TP evaded signing interoperator cooperation agreements with the independent providers of dial-up Internet constituted a competition-restricting practice and ordered the company to cease the practice. The President of the Office imposed a PLN 20 million fine on Telekomunikacja Polska, taking into account that the practice was both anti-competitive and anti-consumer in character.

The company appealed against the decision to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection, which upheld the decision of the President of the Office in its judgment of 21 March 2005. Telekomunikacja then appealed against the judgement of the CCCP and UOKiK’s decision went through all the court instances. Today, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the President of the Office, stating that TP was responsible for the practices in question and upheld the fine of PLN 20 million. The decision of the President of the Office is now final.

Additional information:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw, Poland
Tel. (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 430
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail: [SCODE]bWNpZWxvY2hAdW9raWsuZ292LnBs[ECODE]