Poland has opened a tender for a Digital Cellular System 1800 MHz license. Interested companies are expected to submit offers by mid-July.
Sources in Poland report that Minister of Telecommunications Andrzej Zielinski expects the DCS 1800 personal communications services operator to start commercial services by the end of the year to catch up with the new and quickly growing Global System for Mobile communications cellular services, Era GSM and Plus GSM.
The tender will be for cities with more than 250,000 residents. Poland is home to nearly 40 million people, of which two-thirds live in urban areas. Wired telephones number about 1 for every 6 people.
A spokesman from Centertel, which is majority-owned by the Polish telephone company Telekomunikacja Polska, said the carrier will compete for the DCS 1800 license, which is expected to cost about $70 million. Other prospective bidders include Orange plc of the United Kingdom and Tele Danmark, which is part owner of Plus GSM operator Polkomtel.
Ameritech International previously owned 24.5 percent of Centertel, but sold its share after Centertel was deemed ineligible to automatically receive a GSM license. Ameritech and France Telecom Group, also a Centertel partner, said they formed the company with TP and invested $75 million in 1991 under the agreement Centertel would certainly receive a GSM license as an upgrade once the technology became available and spectrum was cleared for digital services. However, legislation passed in 1995 prohibited the ministry from issuing licenses outside a competitive tender process.
GSM licenses were awarded to Polkomtel and Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa last year. Each started service in the fall, under the brand names Plus GSM and Era GSM, respectively. AirTouch International and Tele Danmark each hold a 19.25 percent stake in Polkomtel, and several Polish industrial companies own the remaining shares. PTC is a venture of U S West Media Group, with 22.5 percent, T-Mobil of Germany and various Polish investors.
Today Centertel is owned 66 percent by TP and 34 percent by France Telecom.
Poland had 203,000 subscribers at the end of 1996, according to information from Strategis Group.
