National Institute of Telecommunications

She was joined on stage by MEP Michał Kobosko, President of the Office of Electronic Communications Przemysław Kuna, Jan Pilewski from Play, Emitel CEO Maciej Pilipczuk, and Aleksander Piniński, Head of Investment Banking at UniCredit Poland. The discussion was moderated by Karol Tokarczyk from Polityka Insight.

One of the main topics of the debate was the draft EU Digital Networks Act (DNA), intended to organise the rules governing the telecommunications market in Europe.

According to Anna Streżyńska, the direction is interesting, but in its current form the proposal does not give Member States sufficient room to protect their own economic and security interests.

I believe we need one fundamental change in this regulation, which in principle is moving in interesting and promising directions, but gives us absolutely no possibility of reflecting national interests at the implementation level. And we differ greatly from other European countries in terms of where we are today,

- she emphasised.

As she pointed out, European regulations are currently designed primarily with the largest operators in mind — those seeking to compete globally — while Poland has a completely different market structure.

I can see a very strong tendency there to satisfy the interests of operators that aspire to compete on global markets. That is, strong, powerful operators that want to expand even further. Meanwhile, we have rather limited representation of our own capital on the European or global market. We are more often penetrated by European capital, so we need to focus on the needs of our entrepreneurs, our players,

- she said.

The Director of NIT noted that the unique value of the Polish market lies precisely in its competitiveness and fragmentation — features that are often wrongly perceived as weaknesses.

We have one very important difference compared with those European markets: we are an extremely competitive market. And this is something we should be proud of, because we still have quite decent investment levels, exceeding many other types of investment. That is why so much is happening locally. Yes, our market is fragmented and stratified, but in a very positive sense of the word,

- she stressed.

As she added, it is precisely thanks to this that operators reach smaller towns and hamlets, while the state gains natural infrastructure redundancy — something extremely important in times of crisis and threat.

The issue of state security resonated most strongly. Anna Streżyńska emphasised that telecommunications can no longer be treated as an ordinary consumer service.

These are no longer utility services. This is no longer what we have become used to — something cheap, as cheap as a cup of coffee at Costa Coffee and basically affordable for everyone. This is now critical infrastructure, whose stability, redundancy, dispersion, and healthy decentralisation are a condition of state security,

- she said.

In her view, this is one of the most important values brought by the DNA — a change in the way the telecommunications market is perceived.

This act clearly says: telecommunications infrastructure, the telecommunications market, are no longer ordinary services. This is state security. This is a condition for the stable functioning of the economy and citizens.

The Director of NIT also spoke very clearly about the development model of the Polish market, which for years was based primarily on keeping service prices very low.

Stop building success on further price reductions, because that success will not take you anywhere. Focus on creating business facilitation, because we have enormous needs — not only those related to wartime conditions, but also to new technologies, the development of standalone 5G, future 6G, and above all the development of the fibre backbone as the foundation,

- she stressed.

As she recalled, mobile networks are only the access layer, while the real strategic asset of the state remains fibre-optic and cable infrastructure.

What is our real asset, deeply embedded across every part of Poland, is the excellent copper and fibre-optic infrastructure that forms the basis of our security.

Anna Streżyńska also referred to the national regulatory environment, pointing to the problem of a lack of long-term strategy.

For several years now, the regulator has not published a regulatory strategy, meaning it does not show at all what market model it is heading towards. You are left to guess and try to run your business in a highly regulated market without knowing what may occur to that particular regulator on that particular day,

- she said directly.

In her opinion, this lack of predictability, alongside low ARPU, is one of the reasons why banks are becoming increasingly cautious about financing the telecommunications market.

In conclusion, the Director of the National Institute of Telecommunications reminded participants that consumers are not sensitive only to price.

Consumers are not sensitive only to price. They are also sensitive to quality, new services, new functions, online security, and keeping up with new technologies. And all of this requires investment. You simply cannot pour from an empty cup,

- she concluded.

The debate in Katowice clearly showed that the future of telecommunications is no longer decided solely in operators’ price lists. It is a conversation about state security, infrastructure resilience, and Europe’s place in the global technological race.

And in this conversation, the voice of the National Institute of Telecommunications – NIT was heard exceptionally strongly.