Polkomtel announced plans to deploy commercial 5G services in seven Polish cities by end-March, offering download rates of up to 500Mb/s using TDD spectrum in the 2600MHz band.

In a press statement, the Polish operator stated 100 5G base stations will be built using Ericsson and Nokia equipment in Warsaw; Gdansk; Katowice; Lodz; Poznan; Szczecin; and Wroclaw.

Polkomtel carried out tests throughout 2019 in preparation for the rollout. Miroslaw Blaszczyk, CEO of Polkomtel parent Cyfrowy Polsat, said preparations are now complete and no further trials or tests are needed.

In 2019 the US and Poland bolstered collaboration on 5G security by creating a criteria for companies selling network equipment to operators in Poland. This drew assumptions the move was part of a US government campaign to ostracise Chinese vendor Huawei over security concerns.

To accelerate the deployment of 5G technology in Poland, Polkomtel, Orange Poland and T-Mobile Poland struck an agreement with the nation’s state development fund PFR and state-owned operator Exatel to establish a company to build the country’s 5G infrastructure.