CTU orders Telefonica O2 to pay TISCALI additional CZK 43 million (EUR 1,521 million) for dial-up Internet termination

Prague, 8th August 2006 – The Czech Telecommunications Authority (ČTÚ) has ordered dominant telecommunications operator Telefónica O2 (formerly Český Telecom) to pay CZK 43 million (EUR 1,521 million) to alternative telecommunications operator Tiscali Telekomunikace Česká republika. The ruling covers the amount owed to Tiscali by Telefónica O2 for unpaid dial-up Internet termination fees during the period July - December 2005.

The ruling follows a similar decision by the ČTÚ in February 2006 when it ordered Český Telecom to pay Tiscali 23 million CZK in unpaid Internet termination fees during the period April - June 2005. That first ruling was later upheld by the Local Court for Prague 3 after it was challenged by Český Telecom.

In response to the ČTÚ's latest ruling, Tiscali issued the following statement by its General Manager, Naveed Gill: " Based on this latest ruling by the ČTÚ, once again in Tiscali's favor, we hope that Telefónica 02 will finally respect our mutual contractual agreement with regard to termination prices, which has been repeatedly validated by the regulatory authority through its decisions, and begin paying them to Tiscali on time and in full."

In addition to the CZK 71 million which Telefónica has already been ordered to pay TISCALI for its unpaid Internet termination fees in 2005, the dominant operator has continued to rack up debts to Tiscali for dial-up Internet termination during 2006. According to Tiscali, those additional debts currently stand at more than CZK 20 million.