Internet Accessibility in Poland

Justyna Bulinska, Foundation Supporting Physically Disabled Computer Specialists and Programmers, Poland
3 September 2001

Fighting telecommunication monopoly.

The total number of Internet users in Poland is estimated as approximately 2,5 million, including anywhere from ten to twenty thousand disabled people. According to Public Opinion Research Center (OBOP) about 4 million people enters Internet once a month. There is 140 000 Internet domains and 90 000 e-mail accounts established. Poland is at the beginning of the way to information society.

The Chart of the Disabled Rights, which was accepted by Polish Parliament in1997 confirmed, among other rights, the right of the disabled to access to information and the unlimited participation in society. Realization of these rights is possible to much extent via telecommunication services, including access to Internet. Provision of these services is guaranteed by the telecommunication law of May 2000. It defines the common service as a telecommunication service within the wire (not mobile) telephone network, including fax and data transmission service in accordance with the law of European Union. The accepted act obliged the telecommunication operators in charge of common service to provide the disabled with it. It means automatically that operators are to provide the disabled with the access to Internet, as well.

Generally, situation in Poland in respect of telecommunication and information technology development, which after Poland's accession to European Union will bear the costs of accepting certain EU solutions in other areas, such as agriculture or mining, will require proper conditions for development, especially explicit legislation. National Information Accessibility Programs should be regarded as a mission to be accomplished by the information specialists circles. The point is to force government to create conditions for information infrastructure development. And these conditions are still the object of desire in Poland since we are lacking the healthy competition and we are suffering from the hegemony of one telecommunication company in the market. Consequently, access to Internet in Poland is incomparably more expensive than in all civilized countries of the world, not to speak about poor quality of telephone connection to Internet, especially in small cities where connection is often impossible. "The untouchable" is TP S.A. - Polish Telecommunication S.A. One may ask why we just don't create a consortium which would be competitive to TP S.A. Truly, we have a network of 155MB/s capacity, cable TV-s, local telephone networks. Moreover, at the beginning of 2001 there has been enforced the new telecommunication law which seemed to meet the needs of Polish Internet users and to be able to deliver an effective tool for breaking the TP S.A. monopoly. Unfortunately, in practice it turned out that the way the new legal act was projected in, prevented lowering the market value of TP S.A. before the company would be sold. As a result, for several forthcoming years Poles will be paying their private money for high share rates of the telecommunication giant. Additionally, TP S.A. has just been punished for incorrect tariff structure and according to the court sentence the tariff for country connections should be lowered at the cost of increase in the tariffs for local connections. It means that the cost of access to Internet will increase as well. At the same time, all potential rivals of TP S.A. endure torment at the courts trying to establish the rules of cooperation with the giant. The new law which was supposed to protect "the smaller ones" against "the bigger ones" does not work in practce.

Barriers, requirements and achievements in Internet accessibility for the disabled in Poland.

Taking into consideration all the barriers which make social and vocational rehabilitation of the disabled persons difficult telecommunication is one of the most effective means of social inclusion. The primary barrier in access to Internet for the disabled is access to a computer. As we know, the disabled need not only the standard equipment but also assistive technology, such as software and hardware enabling the blind reading from the screen (e.g for Braille reading), voice recognition systems, special keyboards (e.g. keyboards displayed on a computer screen) for the physically disabled, etc. The industry has not yet realized the potential of products and services targeting at the disabled although it is possible to do at the low cost and applying the rule of "Universal Design". Another barrier in access to Internet for the disabled is the lack of accessible and tailor-made training, as well as high costs of standard and specialized hardware and software. Nevertheless, the most problematic issue is too expensive Internet connection, especially taking into consideration that the disabled persons use special equipment and they need more time to connect to Internet and to process information. And now any reduction of connection cost depends on Internet providers good will.

Non-governmental organizations in Poland were the initiators of campaign for the sake of accessible Internet for he disabled users. Foundation Supporting Physically Disabled Computer Specialists and Programmers pioneered in the project of "Internet for the Disabled - first node" (IdN1} which was born in 1995 as a civic initiative of the information and telecommunication circles. The Foundation prepared its first web sites on the server "Polska OnLine". Later on the service www.idn.org.pl has been established. Within IdN domain the network of local virtual servers was set up with the purpose of dissemination of IdN information potential at the regional level. In this way all the information necessary for the disabled, including information how and where to apply for cheaper access to Internet, is distributed to small cities in Poland.

The enthusiasm of the disabled in the Internet as a form of social and vocational rehabilitation proves to be constantly increasing. The number of entries on homepage www.idn.org.pl since June 1998 was 89873 and since January till June 2001 - 29791 entries.

Since many years the Stefan Batory Foundation in Poland has been an advocate of assistance to the disabled in their access to modern telecommunication technology. Batory's program " I am not alone (Internet for the disabled)" was addressed to organizations an institutions supporting the disabled and promoting Internet as way to employment, education and rehabilitation. The program offered financing for projects increasing accessibility of the disabled to Internet.

In education sector in Poland the significant activity for Internet accessibility is carried out by Foundation for Local Democracy Development. As a result of their project a considerable number of Polish schools gained access to World Wide Web.

In Poland there are functioning several servers offering free e-mail accounts , e.g. www.onet.pl or www.kki.net.

In Warsaw the Cable TV - Aster City has started the development of Internet network based on fibre optics, which offers 24-hour distant security service in a flat of a disabled person. The Polish company ProVision has elaborated AGUR system which bases on a TV countershaft to be used as cable network terminal and delivering digital services such as teleshopping, telemarketing, bank service, telemedical service, remote control of the home equipment, etc.

Wide range of Internet services and telematic appliances for elderly and disabled people in Poland offers British Telecommunications and the European project INCLUDE.

Conclusion.

The overall situation at the Polish telecommunication market is gradually improving. Politicians start to notice the problem and declare in the their pre-election programs that common access to Internet is very important. Ministry of Telecommunication is working on a study entitled "e-Poland. The Strategy and Development of Information Society in Poland - 2001-2006". There was a positive decision made by the Parliament regarding reduction of VAT for access to Internet. These are good signs of progress, however the problems of TP S.A. monopoly and the wrong structure of Internet access tariffs remain unsolved. Without the cheap access to Internet there won't be information society in any country, while prices in Poland are outrageous. After all, the aim is not to make Internet entirely for free. The solution might be the concept of European Union which in its plans for 2003 does not assume Internet without a charge, but at the economically justified level of prices. In practice it would mean released prices for competitive operators of local infrastructure.

As far as the needs of the disabled Internet users are concerned, the priority is improvement of legislation. The new law in force since 1st January 2001 obliges Internet operators to the wide range of duties in order to provide the disabled with access to all telecommunication opportunities. Nevertheless, the law says only about adaptation of telephone devices to the needs of a disabled user, without any guarantee of reduced monthly fee for Internet connection. It has to be changed. Moreover, inclusion of the disabled in Poland into the developing information society demands improved access to computer, increased awareness of people creating web sites in order to design them as fully accessible for the disabled. Besides, negotiations with Internet providers in order to acquire significant decrease in Internet connection cost are necessary.

To sum up with optimism, in October 2000 the EasyNet company has organized charity auction, the profit from which has been devoted to subsidizing costs of Internet access and connection for the disabled. Foundation Supporting Physically Disabled Computer Specialists and Programmers was appointed to distribute the subsidies. Collecting additional founds from other projects, the Foundation has managed to give help to 10 physically disabled IdN users and to finance installation of SDI released Internet lines (very effective in respect of speed of data transfer and a cost of connection) and/or to pay the monthly fee for Internet connection time. Perhaps this success will encourage others.

References:

"e-Polska: Facts"; http://www.sld.org.pl

"Internet - the chance for the disabled"; Stanislaw Sonta, The Polish Deaf Union; Krzysztof Markiewicz, Foundation Supporting Physically Disabled Computer Specialists and Programmer; paper for the II National Conference "Internet", Wroclaw, December 2000

"Internet for the disabled - IdN - in Poland", Marek Tuszynski, Stefan Batory Foundation

"The difficult art of lobbying, Political maneuvers"; Anna Kozmin, PC KURIER , no 6, 2001

"At last cheaper"; Marcin Bójko, http://www.gazeta.pl/, 28-06-01