T-Mobile Polska’s access deal with Polski Światłowód Otwarty (PŚO) gives the operator six wholesale networks on which to deliver services
Mobile operator turned full service provider T-Mobile Polska will offer broadband services in new Polish regions including the Silesian metropolitan area, Lower Silesia, Małopolska, and Lublin regions. Following the agreement signed last year with wholesale fibre network operator Polski Światłowód Otwarty (PŚO – Polish Open Fibre), the operator has significantly extended the reach of its fibre-optic services, making them available on all PŚO connections, including those operating on HFC technology.
T-Mobile first signed a cooperation agreement with PŚO last December, which saw the mobile operator gain bitstream access to the wholesaler’s HFC and FTTH networks when and where available. At the time, T-Mobile said the deal gave it access to almost 10 million Polish households.
PŚO subsequently rolled out bitstream access on its HFC network in May. It solved the conundrum of what to do on the HFC network in the meantime while it builds its FTTH network. With bitstream on HFC, retail providers can manage their own IP addresses meaning they can roll out IPTV and VoIP services with PŚO. In June, T-Mobile announced it would begin offering services on PŚO’s network
Deeper in neighbourhoods
In the Silesian metropolitan area, almost all residents in the following cities will now have access to T-Mobile’s high-speed internet: Tychy; Siemianowice; Śląskie; and Zawiercie. In Lower Silesia, T-Mobile’s fibre-optic internet has reached, among others, Lubin, and in Małopolska, Kraków will be a key location. While T-Mobile’s fibre-optic internet was already available in selected areas of these locations, it will now cover additional districts and neighbourhoods.
Last month, PŚO extended its fibre footprint to more than 9,000 households in 25 locations. The operator also modernised the HFC network to FTTH in 18,383 more households. The operator plans to cover more than 6 million homes by 2028 – it is currently at 3.8 million. As it is deploying XGS-PON it will be able to offer speeds of up to 5Gbps. The existing PŚO network covers households in 14 provinces and almost 200 municipalities in Poland.
In August 2023, T-Mobile signed a wholesale network access deal with cable operator Vectra, gaining access to approximately four million households. The operator also has wholesale deals with Fiberhost, Nexera, Orange, and Światłowód Inwestycje. T-Mobile said its fibre-optic internet now reaches 8.3 million households across the country.