BRATISLAVA, March 30, (WEBNOVINY) — Mobile operators Orange and T-Mobile (Slovak Telekom) may have to pay for extension of their GSM licenses since the Cabinet passed the amendment to the Electronic Communications Act, which will entitle the Telecommunications Office to collect fees for extension of licenses for the use of frequencies of mobile operators on Wednesday. The Cabinet also agreed that parliament will deal with the amendment in expedited legislative proceedings so that MPs can discuss it at the ongoing session. The state may also face grave economic damages if the amendment fails to be passed, according to the amendment.
MPs for the Civic Conservative Party (OKS) who are members of the MOST-HID deputy caucus, have submitted an amendment similar to the one of the Ministry of Transport to parliament. OKS deputies have not withdrawn their proposal because they wanted to wait and see Cabinet’s proposal first. „We will definitely discuss this law at this parliamentary session. We will either discuss the Cabinet’s amendment to the law, which is to be submitted in expedited legislative proceedings or our submitted deputy amendment,“ said MP Peter Zajac at a press conference on Tuesday.
Zajac said that if the Cabinet’s proposal corresponded with intentions of the amendment they submitted, they would support it. “In case it is otherwise, we decided not to risk and have not withdrawn our draft law but included it on the agenda after discussion on the Cabinet’s law,“ said Zajac.
The Telecommunications Office also supports the tabled amendment while it admits some unclearness in the effective legislation. “The current wording of the law does not specify explicit procedure for the office after expiration of a license so whatever procedure it would follow, it might be challenged in court,” said office’s spokesman Roman Vavro. .
The submitted revision concerns the companies Slovak Telekom, which provides mobile communication services under the brand name T-Mobile and operates services of mobile data networks, and Orange Slovensko, whose licenses will expire at the end of August of this year. The Telecommunication Office currently registers an application from only one operator. It has to decide on the application within six weeks of its submission.
SITA