Changes to the Maga-law - provision of services by the local government units
23 May 2018
The amended provisions provide for:
- resignation from granting authorisations by the President of UKE in the form of administrative decisions;
- defining the terms of providing by a local government unit (LGU) a free internet access in the Mega-law and the ordinance in a manner ensuring the provision of high-speed services;
- limiting the coverage of hotspots run by local government units exclusively to public spaces.
The proposed changes are aimed at providing high quality internet access (connections with data rates of at least 30 Mbps). This will ensure that end-users can effectively use the internet in public places, in particular as regards functional access to digital services such as e-government, e-health or obywatel.gov.pl. The new provisions will have a positive impact on increasing interest in broadband internet access services, as well as on the development of infrastructure built by LGUs.
At the same time, these changes will not interfere with competition on the local markets, because free access to the internet provided by local government units will be limited exclusively to public places.
These regulations are in line with the main assumptions set out in the Strategic lines of actions of the President of UKE for 2017-2021 as well as the policy of the European Commission, aimed at equipping, by 2025, places where public services are provided, such as: public administration, schools, libraries and hospitals, with high-speed internet connections.