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Mobile Telephony The average Pole talks on the mobile phone more often and longer. In September 2007, Polish mobile networks had over 40 million active SIM cards, which means that in Poland, there are more active mobile phone numbers than citizens! In just the first 10 months of 2007, mobile networks gained as many as 3.3 million new customers in total. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), by crossing the mobile telephony penetration level (105%), Poland has joined the largest mobile telephony user countries like Luxembourg (152%) or Israel (123%). In terms of per-household penetration, 78% of Polish households had a mobile phone in 2007. This spectacular growth can be attributed to many factors. Even though the mobile phone usage cost in Poland is still relatively high, the prices continue their downward trend due to a rise in competition and the number of operators. Another factor is that more and more Polish employees are provided with a company mobile phone, which is often their second one. As the number of mobile phone is on the rise, the demand for landline telephones is decreasing. The trend whereby the mobile phone is beginning to replace the landline telephone is very common in Scandinavia, and the first symptoms can also be seen in Poland. In 2006, the number of households that had a mobile phone (74%) exceeded the number of households that had a landline telephone (72%). In the same year, the number of landline phones diminished by 480 thousand lines. In 2007, four mobile phone operators were active on the Polish market: PTK Centertel, Polkomtel, Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, and P4. The largest number of SIM cards was carried by Polkomtel (over 13.4 million), and PTK Centertel had just a few thousand subscribers fewer. The newest operator (P4) had 1 million customers in February 2008. Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) started emerging on the Polish market in 2006. The first one to launch such a service in December 2006 was mBank in cooperation with Polkomtel S.A., followed by myAvon in partnership with PTK Centertel, and the Wirtualna Polska web portal offering WPmobi since August 2007. As the number of new mobile telephony customers is rather limited, efforts to win the existing customer base are becoming more noticeable. The number of service providers is growing (the winners of a tender held by the Office of Electronic Communications, Tolpis and Centernet, are to join their ranks in 2008) and for the average user, the resulting competition means a more diversified offering of mobile services, and a wider choice of new handsets at more affordable prices. Every year, approximately 10% of subscribers declare their intent to change their current operator. This means approximately 3.5 million subscribers nationwide-a number worth fighting for. The decisive factors in migrating to another operator are lower call costs (as indicated by 37% of respondents) and a lower subscription fee. Diagram: Mobile Telephony in Poland 
Source: Own diagram based on Jest więcej komórek niż Polaków, Gazeta Prawna, 16 October 2007.
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