MOBILE operators Orange Slovensko and T-Mobile (Slovak Telekom) will now have to pay to extend their GSM licences following a decision by parliament on April 5, made via an expedited legislative procedure, to amend the Electronic Communications Act. The change means that the national regulator, the Telecommunications Office, will set and collect fees for extension of mobile operators’ licences to use specific frequencies. The office should do so after public consultations that citizens and experts can comment on, the SITA newswire wrote.
The licences currently used by Orange Slovensko and T-Mobile will lapse on August 31, 2011. The two operators each paid US$18 million for the licences back in the 1990s, according to the Sme daily.
T-Mobile and Orange said they regard the amendment as having clarified the existing legislation and hope the regulator will set the fees to correspond with the situation in the market. Before the amendment was adopted, Orange indicated that it would consider up to €5 million for a 15-year licence to be reasonalbe, Sme wrote.
