Regulator reports that open access wholesale networks have now been rolled out to 28% of all Polish localities
Wholesale fibre network operator Polski Światłowód Otwarty (PSO), part-owned by iliad’s Polish mobile operator Play, has agreed PLN5.13bn (US$1.25bn) financing to upgrade from HFC to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and expand its network footprint.
The company’s network currently passes 3.7m households and its investment programme is aiming to increase this to more than six million – and remain open access. The existing PŚO network covers households in 14 provinces and almost 200 municipalities in Poland. Telko.in reports that loans have been agreed with a group of Polish and international banks, as well as the European Investment Bank.
In April, iliad Group announced it completed the sale of a 50% stake in PŚO, which owns the UPC network infrastructure in Poland, to InfraVia. The existing infrastructure is a hybrid of co-axial cable and optical fire. The telco is planning to upgrade to XGS-PON.
“We are very pleased with the acquisition and launch of this financing. It will enable the PŚO to upgrade the HFC network to the FTTH standard and meet the demand for high-speed internet in areas where broadband services are unavailable or insufficiently available,” said PŚO financial director Jarosław Wojciechowski-Boruta.
Earlier this week, Iliad sold its 30% stake in OnTower Poland to towerco Cellnex for €510m. OnTower Poland operates 8,500 sites in Poland and has plans to deploy up to 3,400 new sites by 2030. The company also has a 20-year service provision contract with Play, extendable for additional 10-year periods.
Polish telco revenues down, capex up
Poland’s telco build intensity was reflected in the latest market overview from the regulator the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE). Telecommunications revenues in 2022 decreased by 0.4% compared to 2021, down to PLN40.63bn. However, investment expenditure (PLN11.24bn) increased by a whopping 26.3% over the same period.
Mobile services revenue increased to PLN14.40bn (up by 7.6%). The number of SIM cards also increased by 4.8% (PLN59.28m). Fixed-mobile substitution and VoIP have smacked the traditional fixed-line market. In 2022, there were 2.43m subscribers using fixed-line voice services, a 10.7% decrease on the previous year. VoIP telephony was chosen by 2.85m Poles in 2022.
The penetration of fixed-line broadband internet services increased for another consecutive year. In 2022, 63.2% of households used the service. Of that, 69.9% had access with a minimum bit rate of 100Mbps – with fibre as the most popular fixed technology.
Mobile internet, in the form of dedicated devices such as modems, cards and dongles, was used by 8.75m users. The regulator added that the number of subscribers and revenues from bundled services increased.
The highest penetration of fixed-line internet of at least 100Mbps in buildings was in the following provinces: Podkarpackie (85%), Śląskie (78%) and Małopolskie (75%), and the lowest in Pomorskie (40%), Warmińsko-Mazurskie (43%) and Zachodniopomorskie (46%). The highest mobile internet speeds were in the eight largest urban areas and most county towns.