TELECOMMUNICATIONS : COMMISSION BLOCKS POLISH REGULATOR'S INTERNET TRAFFIC PLAN.

The Polish telecom regulator Urzad Komunikacji Elektronicznej (UKE) must withdraw its plans to regulate the markets for internet traffic exchange services (IP addresses) in Poland, the European Commission ruled, on 5 March. Following a two-month investigation, the EU executive found that that UKE has failed to show that competitive conditions in Poland require the regulation of these markets, which are not regulated elsewhere in the EU.

According to the Polish regulator, two separate markets exist for IP (internet protocol) traffic exchange: a wholesale market in IP peering', where IP traffic exchange could only be made with Polish incumbent Telekomunikacja Polska's (TP) network, and another wholesale market for IP traffic exchange (IP transit), where UKE also claimed that TP was dominant but did not provide market shares.

The Commission has rejected UKE's market definition and the conclusions based on that definition. It believes that the market for...