Monopoly's FWA bid endangers competition

The decision to allow telecoms monopoly Slovak Telecom to bid in an upcoming tender for three FWA (fixed wireless access) licences has raised fears that the stated goal of increasing competition on the market may be in jeopardy.FWA services would allow users to bypass 'last mile' phone cables (those physically joining end users to local phone hubs) by sending communication signals via radiowave from a nearby transmitter. With Slovak Telecom (ST) owning the country's last mile connections, the FWA licences were expected to give customers an alternative to renting the cables from ST, thus creating competition.Market regulator the Telecoms Office had said at the beginning of the year that the aim of the FWA tender would be to increase competition, and that ST would therefore be barred from participating.

Unarmed TÚ searching for weaponry in regulatory battle

Milan Luknár has to get by on short rations. A career telecoms professional since graduating from Technical University in Prague in the 1960's and the current head of the Slovak Telecoms Office (TÚ), which regulates the country's telecoms market, he really has no other choice.Ministry and state-firm bosses typically have chauffeur-driven Audis and BMWs (Telecoms Minister Jozef Macejko is privileged with a blue BMW); Luknár gets an early-90's black VW Passat. Most state bodies have their own headquarters near the centre of town; Luknár and his colleagues sit in a building belonging to Slovak Telecom (one of the very firms they are supposed to be regulating) in an industrial part of town.He's even disciplined when drinking coffee. As his secretary places a small cup in front of him, Luknár looks sheepishly from the mug filled only halfway, explaining "I take a little less water with my coffee".

ST: Monopoly laws should be upheld

While it has been almost six months since Deutsche Telekom was written into the business register as the new owners of 51% in Slovenské telekomunikácie (ST), Slovakia's fixed line monopoly provider, the new German executives at ST have made very few public appearances as yet. The Slovak Spectator sat down to breakfast with three Slovak ST officials, one of whom, products and marketing director Pavol Bojňanský, answered the following questions regarding ST's market strategy.

Alcohol and tobacco advertising law: profit at what cost?

When Health Minister Roman Kováč announced at a March 19 press conference that the consumption of alcohol per person in Slovakia had dropped 2.5 litres - from 10.4 litres in 1990 to 7.9 in 1999 - he explained that the country's thirst for drink had likely subsided as a result of a Slovak law which restricts alcohol advertisements. In the Czech Republic, he said, that law did not exist; hence the Czech consumption increase over the 1990's from 9 to 9.9 litres per person.But the law Kováč credited for reining in Slovak drinkers may now be thrown out in favour of a new law liberalising the alcohol and tobacco advertising market. Supporters - saying it will put more money into the Slovak economy - welcome it; those fearing a resulting increase in the country's number of addicts oppose it.

Internet providers take ST to task again

Frustrated private Internet providers filed a complaint with the Bratislava Regional Prosecutor's Office against telecom monopoly Slovenské Telekomunikácie (Slovak Telecom - ST) March 13, alleging that the firm had broken the law by refusing to abide by the ruling of a market watchdog.The Slovak Anti-Monopoly Office (PMÚ) ruled February 22 that ST had to remove a series of 'filters' it had placed on lines used by its clients exclusively for data transfers. The filters, which limited the frequencies the lines could carry, meant that high-frequency Internet access became virtually impossible; to have the filters removed, customers had to pay ST to install a 'digital circuit' at almost twice the price of the original line.The PMÚ fined ST 10 million Slovak crowns ($213,000) and ordered the filters be removed within 15 days of its decision. But Internet providers say the filters have not yet been removed, and have asked the PMÚ to investigate hitting ST with yet another fine.

Minister fears new Roma flight

Interior Minister Ladislav Pittner angered Slovak Roma leaders when he said that were a new wave of Romany asylum-seekers to swamp western countries, it might result in every European Union country requiring visas of travelling Slovaks.Pittner made the statements March 17 after returning from Brussels, where he had attended a session of the Council of Justice and Social Affairs Ministers of EU countries. He reported that Slovakia had been added by the EU to a list of 'safe countries', meaning that EU member states would not require visas of Slovaks. But another Roma exodus, he warned, could provoke the EU to issue a blanket visa for Slovaks visiting any member nation.

Hoop dreams lived out in Pezinok

When Slovakia's best professional basketball team, BK Pezinok, takes the home court in the town's Športová hala, it seems that anything is possible.An elderly man dishes out high-fives and winks at the athletes while dancing an intoxicated jig behind the players' bench during all time-outs. Hulking six foot ten inch Croatian centre Aramis Maglič prefers launching long-range bombs over banging down low with the other bigger men. And the undisputed star of either team is Devon Lake, a relatively diminutive (six foot two inches) African American who left a job as an anger management counsellor at a US prison to pursue his hoop dreams overseas."It's a different world," says the soft-spoken Lake after yet another victory, this one a 108 to 68 thrashing of the league's fourth best team, BK Prievidza. During the February 24 game, Lake scored 24 points on eight of 11 shooting, including three 3-pointers and several darting drives past athletically inferior defenders. He is Pezinok's spark plug, leading his team to an 18 and 1 record, outscoring opponents by an average score of 99 to 66.

Reproduction centre joins Health Net

A foreign company that helps infertile couples have children has been included on a list of companies whose services are covered by state medical insurance, making 'assisted reproduction' affordable to most Slovaks. But the firm says that until it is allowed to prescribe the necessary drugs for the treatements, patients will remain seriously inconvenienced.The Iscare Centrum asistovanej reprodukcie (Assisted Reproduction Centre) on February 13 was added to the Health Net, a group of medical companies recognised by the Health Ministry. The membership is significant for couples unable to have children without help, since fees for Iscare's artificial insemination procedures are expensive for Slovaks. Deputy Director Marína Hrušecká said that in vitro fertilisation (IVF), a means of helping barren women to conceive, costs 31,500 Slovak crowns ($640) almost three times the average monthly wage. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), used when the male is impotent, costs 45,000 crowns. These treatments, and others, will now be covered.

ST monopoly Internet abuse appeal rejected

Deutsche Telekom-owned Slovenské telekomunikácie (Slovak Telecom - ST) had an earlier ruling of violating its monopoly status confirmed February 22 by the Anti-Monopoly Office (PMÚ), which ruled that ST's continued practice of placing frequency filters on fixed lines was illegal. The filters limit data transfers for Internet access, and cost users up to five times as much as original Internet connection rates on the same lines.Last October, one of the installed filters slowed and disrupted the Internet connection of the Slovak Agriculture University in Nitra, and following complaints by the university and a subsequent PMÚ investigation, the body fined ST 10 million Slovak crowns ($213,000) for abusing its monopoly status.ST promptly appealed the ruling, bringing the PMÚ's February 22 rejection of the appeal. ST spokeswoman Gabriela Nemkyová said that ST "respected the decision of the PMÚ", but claimed that the office had bowed to media pressure in making the decision.

Anonymous donor posts cash for kids

A surprised Brigita Schmögnerová received an unusual package through the post last week: 50,000 Deutsche marks and 15,000 Swiss francs, accompanied by a letter asking the Finance Minister to donate the money to Slovak child health care facilities."This was a wonderful gesture which is very much appreciated," the smiling Finance Minister said February 19 in parliament.Schmögnerová said that the gift - banknotes worth a total of 1.5 million Slovak crowns ($32,000) in three different envelopes - had been sent to her office with a letter reading, "Mrs. Minister, please give this money if possible to children's health care centres".

Visa rules making for border complications

New rules implemented in spring 2000 requiring foreigners living in Slovakia to have a visa sticker in their passports in addition to their long-term or permanent stay cards may create problems for foreigners trying to cross borders.Ed Smith, an American living in Košice, tried to cross the Czech-Slovak border at the end of January. Because he did not have the necessary sticker, which he says he did not realise he needed, he was held up at the border for having insufficient paperwork.

US Slovaks: My country, 'Tis of thee...

Ilonka Martinka-Torres, three-time president of the California Czech and Slovak Club, was born in Chicago, has lived for the better part of four decades in Castro Valley, California, and has a Mexican surname. Not your typical Slovak.On a recent chilly and rainy January afternoon in California, however, she proffered one very Slovak form of hospitality - hard alcohol. "How about something to drink?" she asked her guests as they nibbled on home-made cake. "I have slivovica, becherovka or borovička."Her guests called for slivovica, a form of plum brandy that can contain as much as 55% alcohol. While pouring, Martinka-Torres explained that her Slovak grandfather had made the liquor in 1975, buried the bottles in his backyard, then dug one up to bestow on her as a gift during a 1996 visit. She poured the shots, then measured out herself a nip of borovička, derived from the juniper berry. "I love the way it smells," she enthused.

Culture Shock: Teaching Slovaks 'progress'

America, as our anthem suggests, is a brave country. Change can be frightening, one understands, but living in an era of global change occurring at an unprecedented clip, America leads the charge.Change has in the past been dealt with by occupation (or so me and my fellow Generation Y members have hypothesised). Occupy your time during the most dramatic change with something personally consuming, and that change will become less significant. Generations before got married and started families before they could start thinking about the changes at hand.

Review: A High Tatra's guidebook suitable for Cliff Claven

Čarnogurský car crash leaves two dead

Christian Democrats party (KDH) member Ján Čarnogurský was involved in a serious car accident in the mountain village of Staré Hory outside Banská Bystrica which left two people dead and six others in serious or critical condition.The December 15 accident occurred on rain and ice-slicked roads when Čarnogurský's government BMW lost control and slid over the centre-divider line, first colliding head-on with a Russian-built Lada and then striking an Avia lorry.

Štrbské Pleso: Harnessing 'useless lake'

Hundreds of years ago when serfdom was abolished and land was passed to locals by the Hungarian royalty, Štrbské Pleso (Cleft Lake) and its surrounding forests were given to local Slovak peasants. They did not appreciate the gift.The Štrba locals were incensed at being given what they said was worthless land. Calling the lake itself a "useless pond", they threatened to drain it and use the reclaimed meadow for pastures to salvage some value from the land.

Sloboda Zvierat continues struggle for animal shelter

For the past three years, animal rights activists with Sloboda Zvierat (SZ) in Bratislava have spent countless hours campaigning for a new, bigger, more suitable animal shelter in the nation's capital. They have collected signatures, organised protests and been a general pain in the neck for the municipality of Bratislava."Maybe we should be friendlier to the city," said SZ director Eva Čechová with a mischievous smile. "We have organised many political campaigns to get a new shelter and they have sometimes become angry because many people support us. Maybe we should start being nicer to them if we want a new shelter."

NASA to land soon in EuroValley?

The creation of 'EuroValley' - a proposed Information Technology park in western Slovakia's Malacky region - may be fuelled by the world-renowned American space research giant NASA [National Aeronautic Space Agency].According to Leighton Klevana, the former director of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Slovakia and now head of the proposed EuroValley project, NASA has expressed an interest in the Slovak site, on which they would build a laboratory housing a simulation centre close to participants in existing NASA projects in eastern and western Europe.

Hotel Carlton sparks square rejuvenation

The refurbished facade of the Hotel Carlton reveals nothing of the tangled mess inside, or of the steady process of transformation that is renewing the famous building. What today is a heap of shattered glass will tomorrow be an oaken reception desk. Where wires hang menacingly from the ceiling, a state-of-the-art office space will soon take shape for any number of international firms.But perhaps most importantly (for the city of Bratislava anyway), what is now a muddy and scarred swath of land in front of the hotel will next spring become part of a totally renovated Hviezdoslavovo námestie, one of the capital's most famous squares."The reconstruction of Hviezdoslavovo námestie is the city's greatest project for the next year," said Old Town spokesman Milan Vajda. "Because of the Hotel Carlton reconstruction, the city government decided to rework the whole square, from the Hotel Danube to the National Opera House."