16th January 2015

Wifi: To pay or not to pay for…

On Friday 16th January the journal MF DNES published article related to the alleged plan of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to introduce the payment for the commercial use of non-licensed radio bands where WiFi networks operate, i.e. for WiFi ISPs. This was to be a newly introduced part of Radio Spectrum Management Strategy that was added to the draft after it was already discussed with other ministries and with Czech Telecommunication Office without objections. Štěpán Beneš representing one of the WiFi ISPs Grape SC said that the payments would mean the elimination of some companies as it would mean the raise of end-user prices and the loss of competitiveness compared to alternative means of providing internet connectivity. Minister Jan Mládek in reaction to this MF DNES article denied such rumors and assured the general public that during his mandate he would allow not allow any of those absurd charges. The Ministry spokesperson added that the material is still in the preparatory phase.

For more click here and here.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic