A watchdog without bite
Student debater Matej Cibík won plaudits from the audience last night at the British Chamber of Commerce debate for using O2's ADSL service as an example of why the "Czech state fails to protect competition." The antitrust office is doing nothing, he said, although O2's 80-90% market share and high rates are a clear case for action. The watchdog does not bite, said his debate partner, lawyer Robert Pelikán. The opposition, led by ex-antitrust official Robert Neruda, said the watchdog has launched an ADSL probe but prefers two-way communications instead of resolving antitrust issues with fines and penalties. His arguments ultimately convinced the judges, who thought the one ADSL example was too few to prove the motion. But the riled-up audience disagreed. One person who sided with Cibík and Pelikán said that by the time the watchdog gets around to resolving the ADSL issue, ADSL will be obsolete.
Glossary of difficult words
disclosure - publisher Erik Best of the Fleet Sheet was a judge at the BritCham debate and voted with the majority in declaring Robert Neruda and Lucie Ottingerová the winners;watchdog - a person or group whose function is to monitor the practices of companies providing a particular service or utility;
plaudits - praise; the applause of an audience;
probe - an investigation into a crime or other matter;
riled-up - annoyed or irritated;
obsolete - no longer produced or used; out of date.