Telecommunications plays a key role in our modern society, enabling fast and efficient communication over long distances. It is a broad area of technology that involves the transmission of data, voice, video and other information between two or more points using a variety of communication devices and media. From traditional telephone calls to advanced Internet technologies, telecommunications is the foundation of our global community, enabling us to communicate, collaborate and exchange information in real time. How has this field, so widely available and obvious these days, developed over the years in Poland?

The beginnings of telecommunications in the Polish lands

The history of Polish telecommunications began in 1877. On December 7 and 9 the first experiments with telephones on Polish soil took place, during which the telegraph track of the Warsaw-Vienna Railway telegraph on the Warsaw-Skierniewice section was used to carry out transmissions. The tests were a success, which determined the decision to build separate lines for the telephone and telegraph. In the same year In Poland began production of this groundbreaking communication tool.

In 1882 the first telephone network was established in Warsaw, built by the American company The International Bell Telephone Company. The telephone exchange initially
had four telephone switches with a total capacity of 200 numbers. The network was growing all the time
so that already in 1884 it was possible to serve more than 400 numbers, and a year
later even 520 numbers. After the end of World War I, there were 2.5
thousand telephone numbers in Warsaw, and around 1922 there were as many as 31 thousand. In Wroclaw, in what is now Poland, telephones appeared earlier, as early as 1881, when the first telephone exchange was put into operation.

During the occupation and warfare, there was significant damage and devastation to the telecommunications infrastructure. The state of the remains provided a very difficult basis for the reconstruction and expansion of the network in People’s Poland. Approximately 40% of telephone lines and as much as 80% of telephone exchanges suffered during World War II, especially in major cities such as Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan, Szczecin, Gdansk, Gdynia and Olsztyn, where they were often destroyed completely or taken away by the occupying forces. Nevertheless, thanks to rapid reconstruction and the rapid development of the national economy, demand for telephone services continued to grow. Thanks to considerable investment and the hard work of the communications ministry’s employees, there was not only reconstruction of the destruction, but also intensive expansion of the telephone network, both locally and intercity. The first telephone subscriptions were different from those of today. Particularly in the way they were billed, since, unlike today’s, you didn’t pay for the total time of a call, but the number of calls. Although it might seem that such a revolutionary novelty was out of reach for the general public, in fact, subscriptions were not very expensive. A standard package of 75 calls could be purchased for as little as 10 to 12 zlotys. A more expensive subscription, priced at 18 zlotys, allowed as many as 200 calls per month.

You could talk as much as you wanted, but you had to pay extra for additional calls on top of the package. It was only during the People’s Republic of Poland that the telephone became a rare, even luxury commodity. In 1984, as many as 1.3 million people were waiting to be connected to the telephone network, because in order to get a telephone and be connected to the network, it was necessary to apply for and wait for a decision, and this process could sometimes take years. With the expansion of urban telephone networks and the growing public demand for communication, the number of telephone subscribers steadily increased. Particularly significant growth occurred from 1960, when an increasing number of subscribers were connected to the local network. Over the period 1950-1960, the number of connected subscribers amounted to 368,600, while in 1960-1970 it rose to 582,400, an increase of 58.0% over the previous decade.

With the reconstruction and expansion of telecommunications nodes and the modernization of existing networks, modern equipment based on carrier telephone systems was introduced. The process of automating intercity telephone traffic began as early as 1960, and by the end of 1968, 59 directions of the intercity network had been automated. A year later, in 1969, automated international calls such as Warsaw-Berlin, Berlin-Warsaw and Warsaw-Prague were launched. More connections, including Praha-Warsaw, Warsaw-Moscow and Moscow-Warsaw, were added in 1970. By the end of 1972, 24-hour automatic traffic had been introduced on 176 routes, including six international and 44 inter-regional.

In 1928, the first Polish telephone operator was established – the Polish Post, Telegraph and Telephone, or PPTiT for short, separated from the state administration. The company survived the war and regime changes as the only domestic telecommunications operator. In 1991, the Polish Post, Telegraph and Telephone was split into two separate entities. One was the state-owned public utility “Poczta Polska”. The other was the state-owned joint stock company “Telekomunikacja Polska.” It was the latter that became the main telecommunications operator in the Third Republic of Poland.

Mobile telecommunications

Mobile telecommunications in Poland has experienced rapid development from the 1990s to the present day. Poland’s first mobile network, known as Centertel, was established in December 1991 as Poland’s first mobile operator. Its shareholders were Telekomunikacja Polska SA (51%), Ameritech (24.5%) and France Télécom (24.5%). On June 18, 1992, it began providing commercial services, representing rapid progress in the field.

On March 1, 1998, PTK Centertel launched its digital mobile telephony brand under the Idea Centertel name. A variety of services were available under the Idea brand, including non-subscription prepaid options such as POP (later Idea POP), One Idea on Card and Idea For Everyone, as well as postpaid offers for private customers (Idea Optima, later One Idea) and business customers (Idea Meritum and later New Idea for Companies). In addition, Idea Mix was a combination of prepaid and postpaid offers. Initially, the network operated exclusively in the GSM-1800 band, but as of March 1, 2000, it was transformed into a dual-band GSM-900/1800 network. In September 2005, a rebranding took place, when the Idea Centertel brand was replaced by the Orange brand.

Global telecommunications group France Télécom (now Orange S.A.) acquired a majority stake in Centertel and rebranded the IDEA network in 2005, changing its name to Orange. This was a pivotal moment in the company’s history, initiating a new chapter under a strongly recognized international brand.

Orange Polska, as it is now known, has dramatically increased its offerings to include not only mobile services, but also fixed-line Internet connections, television and business services. The company has invested heavily in expanding its infrastructure, allowing the introduction of high-speed fiber-optic internet and the development of 4G and later 5G networks.

Orange Polska is also known for its numerous social and environmental initiatives. The company is often involved in environmental activities, promoting sustainable development and innovative technological solutions that reduce the negative impact on the ecosystem.

In recent years, Orange Polska has continued to modernize its services, launching innovative solutions such as banking services (Orange Finanse), demonstrating its drive to be “more than just an operator.” Orange has become a brand synonymous with modern telecommunications in Poland, offering a broad portfolio of services that respond to customers’ growing demands for technology and communication.

Thanks to its presence on the Polish market and continuous development, Orange Polska maintains its position as one of the leaders in the telecommunications industry, shaping the future of communications in Poland.

In the early days of Polska Telefonia Komórkowa Centertel, the price list for services was based on U.S. dollars, and payments were converted to Polish zlotys at the official NBP exchange rate. In mid-1995, when the average monthly salary did not exceed $300, the installation fee was $500 and the monthly subscription was $25. The cost of calls on the network was USD 0.34 per minute, while calls to landlines and international networks had their own specific rates. A change came in 1999, when a new price list for services introduced charges expressed in Polish zlotys. Calls to foreign networks during peak hours were charged at PLN 1.02 per minute, and to Centertel and Orange at PLN 0.80. Off-peak hours, the cost of calls was PLN 0.25 per
minute. The subscription was PLN 60, except for Orange phone owners, who could use a subscription of PLN 10. In addition, there were no bundles of minutes, which meant that charges were billed according to actual talk time.

Mobile telecommunications in Poland has experienced rapid development from the 1990s to the present. In 1996, the national monopolist, Polska Telefonia Komórkowa Centertel, gained competition. The market expanded to include two new companies, Polkomtel, operator of the Plus network, and Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, operator of the Era and T-Mobile networks. Polkomtel was granted a license to use the 900 MHz band and Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa was granted a license for the 1800 MHz band, allowing them to start GSM services. Since then, mobile services have become increasingly available to Poles. The GSM network covered more than 40% of the country’s territory and provided coverage for 60% of the population.

Increased competition resulted in a gradual decrease in the price of services and cell phones. As a result, more and more people were able to afford their own cell phone.

The history of the Plus operator, also known as Plus GSM, begins in 1996, when it entered the Polish market as the third mobile operator. This operator is part of Polkomtel Sp. z o.o., which has gained prominence since its inception through innovative solutions and effective marketing strategies.

In the early years, Plus focused on building a wide network of base stations, which allowed it to quickly gain a significant number of users. At the same time, the company launched innovative services, such as Poland’s first commercial GPRS connections, a major step forward in mobile data technology.

In 1999, Plus, owned by Polkomtel, in cooperation with Nokia, introduced GPRS services, enabling faster data transfer over the GSM network. This step opened the way for the development of Internet services in the mobile market. Also at that time, EDGE technology was appearing on the market, which increased the speed of data transmission compared to GPRS.

In 2004, Era took significant steps to gain an advantage in the market, especially targeting young people. It launched its new brand using very extensive marketing activities and tailored its offer to the needs of young users. The Heyah network offered a prepaid system, which gave users full control over their spending. But that’s not all. In addition, it attracted with attractive terms of service, such as sending SMS messages for 3 cents each inside the network. It can be said that it was a real price revolution. Thanks to these favorable terms Heyah immediately gained a significant position on the Polish GSM market.

Competition became even more fierce two years later when Play joined the market, operating from Polkomet’s transmitters. Although testing of the network in Poland began in 2006, by the end of 2007 the operator already had half a million users in Poland, only to increase that number to 2 million a year later. Play was also the first operator to introduce a low-cost roaming tariff, “Eurotaryfa,” which increased the availability and profitability of international calls.

In 2011, Era was rebranded as T-Mobile. The co-founder and now sole owner of T-Mobile Poland is the global telecommunications conglomerate Deutsche Telekom Group (DT), which includes. T-Mobile Poland and T-Mobile Poland Business Solutions. This new shape of the operator has also brought with it changes in offerings. For example, the iconic Tak Tak brand has been replaced by T-Mobile’s prepaid offering. Plus, on the other hand, retained its original naming, but did not avoid changes to its tariffs. Some popular prepaid brands, such as Sami Swoi and 36.6, disappeared from the market as a result of the Plus network consolidation in 2011. Nevertheless, for existing users, these offers are still available, as are migrations from other tariffs such as Plus prepaid and Plush.

In 2011, Polkomtel, the operator of the Plus network, was acquired by Cyfrowy Polsat, marking another stage in the brand’s development. Integration with one of Poland’s largest media companies enabled Plus to expand its offerings to include television services and a better combination of telecommunications services and multimedia offerings, which in time contributed to the company’s increased competitiveness.

Plus was also one of the first operators in Poland to introduce LTE technology, allowing its users to access even faster mobile Internet. In the years that followed, Plus continued to expand its LTE network, allowing it to offer services at increasingly higher levels of quality.

In recent years, Plus has focused on the development of 5G technology, being one of the leaders in the implementation of this modern technology in Poland. The company actively cooperates with various manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and technology to ensure that its customers have access to the latest solutions on the market.

As technology progressed, mobile networks introduced more innovations, such as UMTS, the third generation of networks (2004), providing better voice quality and faster data transmission. UMTS is the integration of all, legacy mobile communications systems (cellular, satellite, paging). UMTS telephony enabled constant high-speed access to the network – transfer speeds of up to 384 kbps (kilobits per second). Thanks to this technology, it is possible to transmit moving pictures, i.e. video calls.

Then came HSDPA technology for broadband Internet access. HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) is a data transfer technology using the UMTS standard, also known as the third generation network (3G or 3G+). HSDPA technology was created for the development of the so-called. second-generation (2G) mobile networks. Next came LTE (Long Term Evolution), which increased data speeds and reduced latency. LTE is an abbreviation for Long Term Evolution, which was used to describe the data transmission technology of 4G networks. In turn, this acronym refers to the fourth generation of mobile telephony. So these are very much related terms.

Currently, we can observe the dynamic development of virtual telecommunications operators, which are serious competitors to large mobile networks. Using the existing infrastructure of other networks, independent operators offer their services without the need for significant investment. Nowadays they do not need to have extensive networks of direct sales outlets, which also translates into competitive subscription prices. They are also called structured operators, or MNOs – Mobile Network Operator.

A Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) is a mobile virtual operator. It uses the infrastructure and services provided by the MNO in one of the cooperation models: Full MVNO (when it has its own backbone network), Light MVNO (when it does not have its own backbone network), Branded reseller.

UKE published an official list on February 2, 2011, which includes more than three hundred virtual operators. Some of them, such as Polsat and Rodzinna Telefonia Komórkowa, have expanded into virtual telecommunications operations. Others, like Carrefour Mova and mBank Mobile, have leveraged their well-known brands, previously unrelated to the telecommunications industry. Still others, like Mobilking, are new companies that have entered the market with a new brand, sometimes using controversial content – Mobilking openly used nudity in its campaigns.

However, not every virtual operator has made it in the market. Some companies, despite building on reputable names and products, have ended their ventures in telecommunications. Examples of such unsuccessful initiatives include WP Mobi (linked to Wirtualna Polska), My Avon (linked to Avon cosmetics) and Snickers Mobile (derived from the candy bar manufacturer). Another of the virtual operators, GaduAir, withdrew from the market on October 31, 2011. Not even the well-known Gadu-Gadu brand helped it in the fight for customers.

mBank mobile, the first virtual mobile operator in Poland, operated from December 13, 2006 to November 30, 2014. Services under the mBank mobile brand were provided by Aspiro S.A., part of the BRE Bank S.A. Group. It used the network infrastructure of Polkomtel S.A., from which it purchased 99,000 pre-activated prepaid SIM cards with special tariffs. Founded in December 2006, mBank mobile had ambitious plans to acquire 162,500. customers by the end of 2007, and 450,000. by the end of 2009. Reality proved different, however, with approx. 88,000. SIM cards issued by 2009, of which only about 40 thousand were active. The number of active cards dropped to 15 thousand. at the end of 2012 and to 13 thousand. in October 2014. Operations were terminated on November 30, 2014. The operator targeted its services mainly to mBank customers, offering such services as. automatic recharging of the phone account from the bank account and free minutes for intensive use of banking services. mBank mobile offered only prepaid services, with the possibility of recharges via mTransfer, mBank cards, transfers from other banks, PBL payments, SMS and at Żabka stores. There was also a prepaid offer for businesses.

Third Wave

Mobile network operators in the United States have quickly come to the conclusion that telecommunications infrastructure is not a key part of their business. Instead of investing in building their own masts, they focused on providing high-quality voice and data services. As a result, they decided to lease or sell existing masts to infrastructure companies that could manage them more efficiently. Soon, European telecom companies followed suit.

In Poland In October 2020, Cellnex reached an agreement with Iliad to acquire a 60% controlling stake in the Play Communication infrastructure, tthat today constitutes OnTower Sp. z o.o. Currently, based on subsequent agreements, Cellnex owns 100% of the company. In June 2021. Cellnex also acquired 99.9 percent. of Polkomtel Infrastruktura, part of the Polsat Group, which is today part of TowerLink Poland Sp z o.o., managed by Cellnex Poland.

Cellnex Poland’s activities are mainly focused on the construction and management of wireless telecommunications infrastructure, which contributes to increasing the availability and quality of mobile services for Polish users. In the context of growing expectations for speed, reliability and availability of telecommunications services, the activities of operators such as Cellnex play a key role in the further development of the industry. Cellnex Poland owns 15,500 sites (passive infrastructure – towers and masts, and active infrastructure – antennas and transmitters), making the company the largest infrastructure operator on the Polish market.

Currently, we can observe the dynamic development of virtual telecommunications operators, which are serious competitors to large mobile networks. Using the existing infrastructure of other networks, independent operators offer their services without the need for significant investment. Nowadays they do not need to have extensive networks of direct sales outlets, which also translates into competitive subscription prices.

Data centers

Data centers are purpose-built buildings designed to house operational IT infrastructure, including servers, data storage devices (for example, SANs), network infrastructure and digital data distribution.

Data centers have advanced mechanisms and procedures that enhance security and ensure the continuity of server operations, for example: emergency power supply, fire protection, power line redundancy, ventilation and cooling systems.

Regulations

The Telecommunications Act, enacted on July 16, 2004, is the foundation that regulates the telecommunications industry in Poland. It specifies the rules regarding the provision of telecommunications services, network construction and supervision. The most important aspects regulated by the Telecommunications Law include the rules for the performance and control of telecommunications activities, the rights and obligations of entrepreneurs and users, the conditions for undertaking activities in the provision of networks and services, as well as the regulation of telecommunications markets and the protection of service users. In addition, the law specifies conditions for the management of frequencies and orbital resources, data protection and telecommunications secrecy, as well as tasks related to state defense and security. It also specifies requirements for telecommunications apparatus and equipment, and the operation of communications administration. With this comprehensive approach, the Telecommunications Law ensures stability and security in the operation of the industry, while protecting the rights and interests of users and supporting the development of telecommunications in Poland.

The Telecommunications Law primarily specifies:

• Rules for the performance and control of activities involving the provision of telecommunications services, the provision of telecommunications networks or associated facilities, hereinafter referred to as “telecommunications activities.”
• Rights and obligations of telecommunications entrepreneurs.
• Rights and obligations of users and users of radio equipment.
• Conditions for undertaking and carrying out activities involving the provision of networks and associated facilities and the provision of telecommunications services, including networks and services for the dissemination or distribution of radio and television programs.
• Conditions for regulating telecommunications markets.
• Conditions for protection of service users.
• Conditions for the management of frequencies, orbital resources and numbering.
• Conditions for data processing in telecommunications and protection of telecommunications secrecy.
• Tasks and duties for defense, state security and public safety and order, in the field of telecommunications.
• Requirements to be met by apparatus and radio and telecommunications terminal equipment.
• The functioning of the communications administration, its interaction with other national authorities and European Union institutions in the field of telecommunications regulation.

Summary
From the first landline phone to the rapid growth of prepaid, postpaid and Internet services, the telecommunications sector has continuously transformed, responding to changing social and technological needs. With competition in the market, more and more people have been able to afford telecommunications services, leading to lower prices and greater accessibility. The transformation of operators, adapting their offers to consumer needs and technological innovations, reflects the dynamics of the sector. Telecommunications in Poland is constantly evolving, becoming an integral part of our daily lives and a key factor in supporting the development of society and the economy in the digital age.

Sources:
1) Law of July 16, 2004. Telecommunications Law
2) Telephones in Poland. Phone costs and… unusual services. What was offered? historia.dorzeczy.pl
3) Pay history
4) Development of telephony in Poland Jadwiga Grządzielska
5) History of media and telecommunications in Poland web.archive.org

6) Virtual operators – who are they and is it worth using their services?