Based on XGS-PON, Warsaw and Krakow will be first with other cities to follow
Orange Polska has announced that customers in Warsaw and Krakow can now order fibre services up to 8Gbps – dubbed Ultrafast Orange Fibre. The operator said that since its launch of fibre-based services in the country a decade ago, more than 1.3m customers are connected to fibre and opting for higher fibre speeds. The 8Gbps service is available to more than 830,000 households.
Orange said the plan it to offer the service in additional cities. It plans to offer the service to nearly 2m households by the end of this year, according to Orange Polska CEO Liudmila Climoc. “Our new offer opens up full possibilities for a real home of the future,” she said. “This ultra-fast fibre connection is perfect for enjoying the highest quality entertainment – video streaming, online games [and] virtual reality.”
She added: “The best solution for freelancers, whose job involves sending large files, such as graphic designers, video game creators, or audio professionals. Thanks to wi-fi, it is possible to connect up to 256 devices!”
Based on XGS-PON, which has a 10Gbps limit, Orange said the download speed that users can realistically achieve on their device is 8Gbps. The data transfer speed offered by the service is a maximum of 1Gbps. To take advantage of such a fast connection, users will need a laptop or desktop computer with a 10 Gbps port. The 8Gbps service works with Orange’s new Funbox 10 modem – which supports the Wi-Fi 6E standard so is ready for the 6GHz band, depending on how that ends up being utilised.
The operator points out that the modem has eco modes that will allow users to adjust the operation to their needs to save energy. The housing and packaging are made of 100% recycled materials.
Ultrafast Orange Fibre is currently available to new customer who sign contracts for 24 months or for an indefinite period. In the discount option, together with Funbox 10, customers can use it from PLN 200.01 per month. If ordered online, further promotions are available.
In addition to the latest speeds, Orange also offers options up to 300 Mbps, up to 600 Mbps and up to 1 Gbps, as well as Fiber Optic Pro 2.0, offering speeds of up to 2 Gbps in total on all devices in the home.
The operator points out that since arriving in the fibre market in 2015, it has spent more than PLN 4 billion on fibre optic networks, developing its footprint not only in cities, but also in areas at risk of digital exclusion, as part of programmes co-financed by the EU. Fibre optic investments – especially in areas with limited access to high-speed Internet – are currently also carried out by Światłowód Inwestycje (SI), whose shareholder is Orange Polska.
SI makes its network available to operators so that they can provide their own services there. Since the beginning of its operations, it has spent nearly PLN 2 billion on the construction of optical fibre networks.