Poland’s Polkomtel, which operates as Plus, has launched 5G services in partnership with Nokia covering the capital of Warsaw as well as other major cities in the eastern part of the country.
The scope of the project includes the introduction of 5G on top of the existing Nokia AirScale LTE infrastructure. The service has been launched in the fourth quarter of 2020 and, as part of the nationwide Plus 5G network rollout started in May 2020, will be further expanded in the coming months.
Nokia supplied 5G radio solutions from its comprehensive AirScale portfolio for both indoor and outdoor coverage. These solutions will enable the Plus network operator to deliver cutting-edge connectivity and capacity to its subscribers at very low latencies, as well as reducing complexity and increasing cost efficiencies.
Polkomtel has leveraged the TDD 2600 MHz frequency band to deploy 5G services ahead of the 3.5 GHz frequency auction planned for next year. The initial rollout is a wide-area deployment of Nokia’s 5G AirScale Compact RRH solution which will enable the operator to build networks in dense urban areas or indoors with optimum performance. This is an innovative way to enable the right cell size, allowing them to manage costs and deliver the required capacity.
Jacek Felczykowski, Member of the Management Board of Cyfrowy Polsat S.A and Polkomtel Sp. z o.o., operator of Plus network, said: “Plus is at the forefront of innovative technology in Poland and we are proud to be the first mobile operator to launch 5G services in May this year and deliver incredible connectivity experiences to our subscribers.”
Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: “It was a simple process to upgrade the existing Nokia-based infrastructure for 5G services, which enabled Polkomtel to increase the coverage of 5G services for their customers. I look forward to seeing the positive impact of 5G in the country and the incredible opportunities it will bring.”