However, the government will not invest in 5G. It dumps it on the operators. And they’ve been waiting three years

The National Reconstruction Plan assumed the construction of 4,200 base stations that would cover the white spots of 5G coverage on the map of Poland. Currently, the next generation network is available in larger and smaller cities, but not in suburban or rural areas. State investments were to help cover digitally excluded areas with mobile coverage. But they won’t cover it. The government – according to unofficial reports – transferred this task to the private sector.

“Rz”: the government revises the KPO assumptions. Not for investment in 5G

For such information, Gazeta, citing experts closely related to the government, reported that 13 reforms and 39 investments planned under the KPO will be changed under the so-called revision of the National Reconstruction Plan. The authorities have not spared the aforementioned plans for 5G networks – they are to be completely abandoned. The government apparently wants to rely entirely on the mercy of commercial operators here, which is explained by “lack of interest in the return side of supporting investments in modern electronic communications networks” – explains “Rz”. Telecoms will be the only entities to build 5G stations, and therefore – as we can guess – areas of the country that would be unprofitable to cover with the network will remain white spots on the maps.

When will the government unblock 5G in Poland?

The government is to shift the development of 5G in Poland to operators, but it does not help them develop new generation networks. For three years, telecommunications companies have been waiting for the release of the frequencies on which 5G is to operate. The government planned to allocate individual bands between enterprises at the beginning of 2020 (when preparations were being made for the launch of the 5G network), but there is little left of these assumptions. Thus, for three years, operators have been forced to operate on “crowded” frequencies, partly shared with the LTE network, which blocks the development of new generation networks. It also strongly limits the internet speed that we can enjoy on smartphones.

The issue of allocating frequencies for the 5G network is currently being conducted as part of a new auction announced only in December 2022. Until May 12. the second round of consultations is expected to last, just before its announcement, the government agreed to extend four 5G blocks from 80 to 100 MHz. The starting price of each of them remained unchanged (PLN 450 million). The full investigation is expected to be completed by the end of this year.