2018 Poland - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Poland gears up for 5G trials in 2019

Poland’s liberalised telecom market has seen considerable development in recent years, with the regulatory environment having been shaped by EU principles designed to facilitate competition and encourage competing operators to enter the market. Recently this extended to opening Orange Poland’s fibre network to access and pricing regulation.

The fixed broadband market has benefited from excellent cross-platform competition, with comprehensive DSL infrastructure complemented by extensive cable networks and a growing fibre presence. Commercial considerations meant that fibre was for some years restricted to a number of urban areas, though more recently the sector has received considerable financial support from the government and the EU aimed at building fibre-based networks across the country and promoting fibre connectivity to end-users. As a result, the proportion of broadband subscribers receiving a service of at least 100Mb/s has increased sharply in recent years.

Orange Poland still dominates the fixed broadband market although there has been some consolidation among operators. UPC Poland in particular has grown through acquisitions, though its bid to take over the cable assets of Multimedia Polska was abandoned in early 2018 following regulatory concerns over the proposed deal’s impact on market competition.

The mobile market has been characterised by the rapid extension of LTE networks and the development of mobile data services based on newly released and refarmed spectrum. In addition, the regulator and operators alike are preparing for 5G, with the regulator embarking on a long-term strategy and with operators such as Orange Poland preparing to trial services based on 5G technologies in 2019.

Mobile penetration in Poland is above the European average, standing at almost 141% by early 2018. This reflects the continuing popularity among consumers to keep two or more SIM cards, which has distorted the real mobile penetration rate. The distortion has been addressed on two fronts: by network operators being encouraged to disconnect dormant SIM cards, and by legislation, effective from February 2017, which obliges subscribers of prepaid services to register their details. This has resulted in a significant readjustment in the number of subscribers in the market.

This report covers key aspects of Poland’s evolving telecom market, presenting data and analyses on market operators, fixed-line networks and technologies, and the key regulatory developments. The report also profiles the fixed broadband market players, assesses the varied technology platforms and market developments, and provides subscriber forecasts to 2023. In addition the report covers the mobile voice and data markets, including profiles of the major operators together with updated operating and financial results, and assessing recent regulatory measures and spectrum auction results.

Key developments:

• NetWorkS! Joint venture increases LTE spectrum allocation;
• Polkomtel’s LTE-A service data rate increased to 500Mb/s;
• Legislation waives spectrum fees for technology trials;
• Orange Poland planning 5G trials in 2019;
• T-Mobile Poland launches commercial NB-IoT services;
• Vectra and Toya launch 1Gb/s FttP services;
• Liberty Global cancels proposed acquisition of Multimedia’s cable assets;
• Netia and Orange Poland head fibre-based consortia to extend broadband nationally;
• Government creates Ministry of Administration and Digitalisation to oversee telecom sector development;
• Telecommunications Act amended;
• Report update includes the regulator’s market data report for 2016, State Statistics data for 2016, telcos’ operating and financial data for Q4 2017, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Orange Poland, Netia, Telefonia Dialog, GTS Energis, Exatel, Telekomunikacja Kolejowa, UPC Poland, Aster, Multimedia Polska, Vectra, Polkomtel, CenterNet, T-Mobile Poland, P4/Play, Mobyland.