Registration of telecommunications services providers is mandatory for all entrepreneurships that provide telecommunications services in Poland. Currently, the register held by the Polish telecommunications regulator – Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), includes more than 4000 of telco providers that offer their services in Poland, including those providing VoIP or data transmission services. In this article, authors will briefly describe key aspects of registration of the telecommunications services provider in Poland.
Who should be registered in the UKE register?
Due to the fact that telecommunications activity is considered as "regulated activity" under the Polish Telecommunications Law ("TL"), all providers of such services should be registered before commencing the service. The register itself is held by the UKE and is publicly available for anyone (https://bip.uke.gov.pl/rpt/rejestr-przedsiebiorcow-telekomunikacyjnych). The register as such is helpful to determine what kind of services shall be registered and how they should be described in the application.
As to the territorial scope of the registration obligation, the registration is mandatory for all providers of telecommunications services that provide their services in Poland, including for those that have a legal presence (e.g. limited liability company) in Poland.
The registration is also mandatory for telecommunications undertaking from EU countries or a state that has concluded an agreement with the European Union regulating the freedom to provide services, which provides services on the territory of the Republic of Poland on temporary basis, on the terms specified in the provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the agreement on the European Economic Area or in accordance with the provisions of other agreement regulating the freedom to provide services.
In other words, all businesses that provide telecommunications services in Poland should be registered with UKE prior to offering such services. Such registration is also required for telecommunications providers from the EU assuming that they offer temporarily the telecommunications services in the territory of Poland. If the services will be provided on a permanent (constant) basis, the telecommunications services provider should establish a legal entity in Poland – such entity should be registered in the register of telecommunications providers by UKE.
The application form – what information will be needed?
The application for registration of telecommunications provider in Poland is rather complex and detailed. The application should cover at least the following data:
- the entrepreneur's company name or the name of another entity authorized to perform economic activity on the basis of separate provisions of law, its seat and address;
- designation of the legal form of the entrepreneur or other entity authorized to perform economic activity on the basis of separate law provisions of law;
- tax identification number (NIP);
- number in the register of entrepreneurs in the National Court Register or other relevant register kept in a Member State or other country, if the entrepreneur has such a number;
- designation of the person who is authorized to contact the President of UKE, its seat, address or telephone number on behalf of the entrepreneur or other entity authorized to conduct economic activity on the basis of separate regulations;
- name, surname, address and telephone number of the person who is authorized to contact on behalf of the entrepreneur or another entity authorized to conduct economic activity on the basis of separate provisions in an emergency cases related to the operation of the telecommunications network or the provision of the telecommunications service to which the application relates;
- general description of the telecommunications network, telecommunications service or associated services to which the request relates;
- the area where telecommunications activities will be performed;
- the expected date of commencement of telecommunications activities.
Deadlines and form of the application
The application for registration should be submitted to UKE before commencing the services in Poland. The President of UKE shall enter the telecommunications provider in the register within 7 days from the date of receipt of the application (together with the declaration referred to in article 10 paragraph 5 of the TL).
If the President of UKE fails to make the entry within the 7 days, and 14 days have elapsed from the date of receipt of the application for entry in the register, the telecommunications provider may commence its activity in Poland after prior written notification to UKE. This does not apply to the case in which the regulator requested an entrepreneur to supplement the application for entry in the register before the expiry of the above 7 days period.
The application should be filled in in Polish. The application can be filled in in writing (paper) and sent to UKE, or on-line with use of dedicated system administered by the UKE and available online. The registration may be done by a proxy (e.g. legal counsel), assuming that relevant power of attorney has been granted to such person to represent the telecommunications provider before UKE in the registration process.
The application for entry in the register, attachments attached to such application and entry in the register are not subject to stamp duty.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
