In its second-instance decision, Slovakia’s Telecommunications Office (TÚ) has again denied compensation to Slovak Telekom (ST) for its costs in providing universal service in 2005 and 2006, the SITA newswire reported.
The TÚ confirmed its decision announced this February in which it ruled that ST’s provision of universal service did not impose an undue burden on the operator and that it could not claim compensation of net costs, the spokesman for the Telecommunications Office, Roman Vavro, told SITA.
Slovak Telekom requested compensation of losses for provision of universal service from the regulator in 2007. Universal service is the minimum package of telecommunications services available to all customers in Slovakia regardless of their geographical location. The Telecommunication Office issued a ruling in October 2009 awarding Slovak Telekom €26.28 million but the provider appealed because it had originally demanded compensation of €78.8 million.
Slovak Telekom argued that revenues from providing this service were below its costs. However, the Telecommunications Office stated that the whole sum of costs of universal service provision calculated by the ST was an appropriate load for Slovak Telekom and has had no negative impact on its competitiveness in the market.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
12. Apr 2011 at 14:00
