The UKE requires six companies to grant access to unused cables, at a regulated price.
Background: Until now, cable operators in Poland have not faced access obligations. According to the regulator UKE, this has resulted in high access charges – on average between PLN22–26 (EUR5.12–6.06) for the provision of fibre. As a consequence, network duplication has been common in the country, which further increased the cost faced by operators for reaching customers.
The UKE imposes symmetrical access rules: On 22 January 2020, the UKE issued regulatory decisions specifying the conditions for providing access to cable infrastructure in residential buildings. The new rules are aimed at six companies (Netia, UPC, Multimedia Polska, Vectra, INEA, and Toya) and introduce an access obligation for unused cables. Those operators will have to satisfy access requests from other providers, at a regulated price. For the time being, the UKE determined that the fees for this symmetrical obligation will be aligned to those in the reference offer for FTTH. These are PLN236.94 (EUR55.24) for the connection fee, and PLN17.54 (EUR4.08) for the monthly charge. If the fees in the reference offer change, the contracting parties can adjust their contract accordingly.
Next steps: The rules will come into force after a six-month transition period, so that operators can prepare to comply. With these changes, the UKE aims to minimise network duplication, to provide users with more choice, and to reduce inconvenience resulting from installation work in buildings.
