TDE.L Regulatory News (TDE)

14 Jun 2006 15:00

Cesky Telecom A.S.14 June 2006 > PRESS RELEASE - 14 June 2006> SOME ALTERNATIVE OPERATORS CAUSED THAT THE PRICE OF INTERNET DIAL UP FOR THEIRCUSTOMERS HAS GROWN Some alternative operators did not allow reaching of an agreement on the newinterconnect (termination) charges to enable the retention of low prices fortheir end customers. Unfortunately, CESKY TELECOM is bound to reflect therequired price of dial up interconnection in the final price for the customer.It will fulfil the wishes of some alternative operators to retain high profitsas well as to make up for the financial loss from these calls. The current price will be retained for customers connected through the CESKYTELECOM network but also through the networks of the majority of alternativeoperators. All operators have the opportunity to provide their services alsounder a regulated origination model (Relevant market no. 8 -CEN/8/04.2006-16),in which they can set the prices as they wish. They can also use the flat ratecharging model, FRIACO (flat rate for customer Internet dial up). The end of regulation of the termination of Internet dial up Internet made itpossible to rectify the situation with end user prices continuously decliningwhile prices of interconnect remaining as before. "Some alternative operatorsdid not show the will to reach an agreement despite of CESKY TELECOM offeringprices worth a multiple of the minimal price suggested by the CzechTelecommunications Office the last year", said Martin Zabka, CESKY TELECOM'sspokesperson. "It is up to each individual operator to choose the pricing policyand the charging model for their clients, he added. From 15 July 2006, CESKY TELECOM is launching a set of new prices for Internetdial up reflecting amounts requested by the alternative operators. This stepmade some of the operators change their end user prices. From the above date,the price of 971 xxx xxx calls will be different depending on the network inwhich the Internet call is originated. About 80% of the total volume of Internet dial up traffic is conveyed throughalternative operators. At present, this type of Internet communication is usedby 300.000 customers and the quantity of these calls keeps declining. CESKYTELECOM continues to invest in a high-speed Internet access adding CZK 150 mil.to increase the availability to 700 new locations by the end of October. Charging models the new operators can use: FRIACO: Flat rate charging for unlimited volumes of minutes sent from thecustomer to the operator network Origination model: subject to regulation (Relevant market no. 8: CEN/8/04.2006-16). The final price is set by each operator individually. The operatorpays CESKY TELECOM a fee for the origination of call in the CESKY TELECOMnetwork. The price paid to CESKY TELECOM is far lower that the one claimed bysome alternative operators from CESKY TELECOM within the termination model. CS/CPS: Carrier Selection / Carrier Pre-Selection. From 1 July 2006, the servicewill be cheaper by another 0.06 per minute. Termination model: CESKY TELECOM pays OLO some fee for each minute of call. MARTIN ZABKAPress spokesmantel: 800 163 342 (800 1 MEDIA)fax: 271 469 896e-mail:martin.zabka@ct.cz This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange