THE PRIVATIZATION OF POLAND’S ENTIRE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE WITHIN THE NEXT FEW YEARS IS AWAITED “WITH BATED BREATH” BY U.S. AND EUROPEAN TELECOM COMPANIES SEEKING ENTRY INTO ONE OF EUROPE’S FASTEST GROWING MARKETS, ACCORDING TO DOROTHY E. HANSBERRY, AN ATTORNEY WITH THE WARSAW-BASED LAW FIRM OF BEATA GESSEL & PARTNERS LTD.
MS. HANSBERRY, FORMERLY AN ANTI-TRUST ATTORNEY WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SPOKE AT AN ATLANTA SEMINAR LAST WEEK PUT ON BY THE POLISH AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.
ALTHOUGH THE COUNTRY DOES NOT HAVE A MINISTRY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS TO REGULATE FUTURE COMPETITION IN THE INDUSTRY, SHE SAID THAT AS SOON AS PRIVATIZATION IS PERMITTED THE GOVERNMENT WILL PROMOTE INSTALLATION OF THE MOST ADVANCED SYSTEMS, NOT ONLY PROVIDING TELEPHONE SERVICE BUT ALSO A VAST ARRAY OF AUDIO, VIDEO AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS.
POLAND’S ANTI-MONOPOLY OFFICE, SHE SAID, WILL REVIEW COMPLAINTS ARISING IN THE PRIVATIZATION PROCESS INCLUDING, FOR INSTANCE, THE TERMS OF ISSUANCE OF LOCAL LICENSES OR DEMANDS BY THE STATE-OWNED TELECOMMUNICATIONS MONOPOLY FOR “UNDUE TERMS.”
“THE ANTI-MONOPOLY OFFICE IS WHERE YOU GET RELIEF,” SHE SAID, ADDING THAT THE OFFICE IS “NOT PREJUDICIAL AGAINST FOREIGN INVESTORS. THERE ARE MANY CASES OF FOREIGN OWNED COMPANIES BEING TREATED IN THE SAME MANNER AS POLISH FIRMS.”
MS. HANSBERRY ALSO SAID THAT SHE FELT UNDER THE ANTI-MONOPOLY OFFICE’S CURRENT PRESIDENT, ANDRZEJ SOPOCKO, THE OFFICE WAS LESS APT TO BE PRESSURED BY POLITICAL INFLUENCE IN COMPARISON TO YEARS PAST.
SHE MAY BE REACHED AT THE ATLANTA LAW FIRM OF BONDURANT, MIXSON & ELMORE AT (404) 881-4100 UNTIL FRIDAY, NOV. 29. IN POLAND, SHE MAY BE REACHED BY TELEPHONE AT (48 22) 827 27 17, OR BY FAX AT (48 22) 26 89 99.