Plus launching commercial 5G network

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On May 11, 2020, Poland’s first 5G network at 2.6 GHz frequency will be launched. Polkomtel, Plus network operator, rolls out 100 transceivers in 7 Polish cities.

Range of the 5G Plus network

In line with our predictions and earlier announcements, Polkomtel has officially announced the launch of a commercial 5G network in Poland. The 100 stations put on air in 7 cities across Poland is the first stage of 5G services offered by Plus (with 900 thousand people within the coverage of the 5G network). Simultaneously, as an element of the second phase of implementation of 5G network, work has commenced that is connected with building more than 600 additional stations located In Warsaw and in the surrounding towns and places (over 2 million people within the network’s coverage area). Thanks to this the next generation network’s coverage will extend over an area inhabited by over 3 million inhabitants. Vast part of the planned additional 600 base stations for Warsaw and Warsaw urban area will be constructed by the end of 2020, with all of the planned roll out expected to be completed in the early months of 2021

Dedicated 5G tariffs coming soon

As of May 11 the 5G commercial network implemented by Plus will be available for use to all postpaid offer subscribers of Plus and Cyfrowy Polsat who live in Warsaw, Gdansk, Katowice, Lodz, Poznan, Szczecin and Wroclaw, who are within the coverage footprint of the 100 5G base stations and who use the equipment supporting the 5G technology operating in the 2.6 GHz frequency band.

The offer of 5G tariffs will be presented in the near future. During the early months the 5G data transmission will be available to Plus and Cyfrowy Polsat customers on promotional terms, as an element of the data bundles offered by the currently available subscriptions.

Various band resources for 5G

The 5G network will operate on the basis of non-standalone architecture (NSA), integrated with the LTE infrastructure – for the construction of the the network Cyfrowy Polsat Group used its exsiting masts and towers on which 5G transceivers supplied by Ericsson were installed.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 5G auction in Poland on the 3.4-3.8 GHz frequency (the so-called C-band), which the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) was to grant to operators under the proceedings this year, was cancelled.

“In the first stage of 5G network roll-out we have used the 2.6 GHz TDD frequency band with a bandwidth of 50 MHz. It enables sending more data in a given frequency band at higher speeds while covering a bigger area with high speed data transfer service. Thanks to this more of our customers will be able to enjoy the new quality of the Internet. The 2.4-3.8 GHz band will offer bigger bandwidth of 80 MHz, thus being able to offer higher data transfer speeds but the propagation properties offered are inferior. And what is most important, our first 5G service in Poland, operating in the 2.6 GHz TDD band with data speeds of up to 600 Mbps, is available to our customers here and now,” comments Jacek Felczykowski, a Management Board Member of Cyfrowy Polsat and Polkomtel.

According to UKE’s data, the number of radio permits for 5G transmitters held by all mobile networks in Poland at the end of April 2020 amounted to 1,780, of which over 90% is in the 2100 MHz band. The launch of the 5G network, but without the possibility to purchase terminals and tariffs, was announced in January 2020. Play. T-Mobile and Orange also boasted of the progress in the construction of 5G transceivers. So far, however, none of the operators in the country has presented dedicated 5G tariffs.