Polish Watchdog Criticized For Taking Too Long On Decisions

Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) should look at the TV market as a whole rather than fragmented when making decisions, according to Andrzej Abramczuk, CEO of Netia. 

Speaking in a discussion at the PIKE 2020 Online Conference, he added that the UOKiK also took too long in making decisions – the process should take half a year rather than up to two – as conditions at the conclusion of the process were often quite different to those at the start, reported Broadband News. 

Meanwhile, Tomasz Zuranski, the CEO of Vectra, said that the regulator did not make it easy to conclude its acquisition of Multimedia, with the company having to face a lot of challenges.

He added that one particular challenge was the way in which the regulator looks at local markets.

Speaking more generally, Zuranski also said that the proposed joint venture between Discovery and Polsat is proceeding further and this “should speed up our thinking strategically.”

Issues with UOKiK were also highlighted by Robert Redeleanu, the CEO of UPC Polska, which had to pull out of its proposed take-over of Multimedia after a process lasting three years.

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