Polish IT firm Comarch has said it has secured a spectrum licence from the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), the national telecoms regulator in Poland, to build a private 5G network and network operations centre (NOC) in the local 4-4.1 GHz band. It said it will deploy the infrastructure at its 5G LAB at its headquarters in Kraków using muMIMO technology for research and testing purposes – with a view to rollout its own private 5G management service. The permit has been issued for a term of 12 months; there is no word on network equipment or system integrator partners.
The firm is one of the first in Poland to be granted a local 5G licence. UKE released the 3800-4200 MHz (3.8-4.2 GHz) frequency band to cities and enterprises for private LTE/5G deployments in September last year. It has allocated the 3800-3900 MHz band for use by local governments exclusively, which can apply for the entire 100 MHz provision; enterprises and “other entities”, such as Comarch, can licence up to 100 MHz at 3900-4200 MHz. Licences cover use of low or medium power base stations; mid-power radios are not allowed l in the 4000-4200 MHz range.
Comarch said it will set up a “fully-fledged” standalone 5G (SA) network at its Kraków headquarters. It said it will host the core network (“central infrastructure”) at the site; the implication is it will operate as an enterprise NOC as it looks to provide private 5G network design and management as-a-service to third-party enterprises. The company said it will also use the network to test “self-management and AI-assisted network optimization (MIRA) solutions at higher frequencies”, and the broader setup to demo off-the-shelf solutions to enterprises.
It stated: “[Comarch will] go beyond network services and monitoring in telecoms. As the network will be available on the company’s campus, it will be possible to test it directly in any other major sector in which Comarch operates… Solutions will be developed, tested, and demonstrated in a real [and] fully-operational 5G network environment, which will translate into increased adaptability… Comarch 5G LAB will be capable of carrying out advanced network scenarios, such as real-time adaptation of services… and 24/7 monitoring.”
Michał Mędrala, head of OSS consulting and product management at Comarch, said: “Acquiring the permit has opened up many new possibilities for us… We will use it to conduct extensive tests of our network management and monitoring solutions using 5G LAB. Another important step will be ensuring the ability to demonstrate our on-demand solutions and services on a fully operational 5G network across the whole Comarch campus located in Kraków.”
Comarch serves the telecommunications, finance, banking, and insurance, trade and services, infrastructure, public administration, industry, and healthcare sectors. It lists Allianz, Auchan, BNP Paribas Fortis, BP, Carrefour, Heathrow Airport, Heineken, ING and LG U+, Orange, Telefónica, T-Mobile, Vodafone, among its customers. It employs 6,500 staff in 90 offices in 30 countries, and claims to spend €85 million per year on R&D.