Czech mobile phone operators have reportedly been unsettled by the news that the country’s telecom reulgatory body could be headed by an agressive young lawyer with serious anti-monopoly credentials. While none of the three Czech operators have reacted officially to the news, the newspaper writes that Robert Pelikan could well follow in the footsteps of Poland’s chief regulator, Anna Strezynska, who has succeeded in cutting calling costs by 70 percent over the past five years.
Consumers will be encouraged by a recent interview in the Czech economic daily Hospodarske noviny, in which Pelikan said the Czech Telecommunications Office (CTU) can’t be afraid of the major telecoms. “A regulator that has no conflicts with the regulated companies is a bad regulator,” he said. His nomination to the head of CTU still has to be confirmed by the Czech government.
