Poles do not pay for the phone? Debt per person increased to PLN 4,830

At the end of the first quarter of this year, almost 300 thousand people and companies had overdue debts to the telecommunications sector worth over PLN 1.4 billion - according to BIG InfoMonitor data. The largest arrears were in Warsaw; Kraków, Poznań and Łódź are also in the lead.

As reported by BIG InfoMonitor, the telecommunications sector plays a key role in the digital economy, as it enables the effective functioning of administration, education, healthcare and business. Therefore, the debt of companies and individuals to this sector "is becoming a problem not only financially, but also structurally".

BIG InfoMonitor data indicates that the number of people with debts has fallen by over 100 thousand over the last four years, and the value of debt has decreased by approximately PLN 330 million. " As a result, the average debt per person has increased from approximately PLN 4,370 to over PLN 4,830. The financial risk of operators has not disappeared - it has changed its nature: it has ceased to be mass and has become more concentrated. A smaller number of customers are now responsible for much larger and more difficult to recover liabilities," noted BIG InfoMonitor CEO Paweł Szarkowski.

The authors of the report pointed out that the majority of debtors are people aged 35-44, there are 66.6 thousand of them, which is over 22 percent of the total. Next are the age groups 25-34 (55.9 thousand) and 45-54 (51.6 thousand). These three groups together account for over half of all arrears in the telecommunications sector. "The more digitally and professionally active the customer is, the more services they have - and this means a greater risk of accumulating overdue debt in the event of financial problems," it was reported.

Apart from Warsaw, where the total debt amounts to PLN 130 million, Kraków is on the podium - PLN 51.4 million and Poznań - PLN 43.8 million. Next are Łódź (PLN 42.3 million) and Wrocław (PLN 40.6 million). In the case of voivodeships, the highest level of arrears is recorded in the Mazowieckie voivodeship - almost PLN 236 million, the Śląskie voivodeship - about PLN 198 million and the Wielkopolskie voivodeship - almost PLN 151 million.

In addition to consumers, businesses also have debts. The BIG register lists nearly 52,000 of them. "These are liabilities that often result from the insolvency of companies using subscription, wholesale or package services - e.g. telephone exchanges or business internet access," the report explains.

Citing data from the Polish Economic Institute, the authors noted that in the years 2015–2023 the capitalization of European telecommunications companies fell by 41% to USD 270 billion. They added that in 2023 the value of the market in Europe amounted to EUR 277 billion, of which 64% were revenues from consumer services.

BIG InfoMonitor is part of the BIK Group; it consists of Biuro Informacji Kredytowej SA and Biuro Informacji Gospodarczej InfoMonitor SA and Digital Fingerprints SA BIG InfoMonitor maintains the Register of Debtors, receives, stores and provides information on overdue debts of individuals and companies. (PAP)

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