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The spread of mobile phones
Telecommunication market data for 2003 is the best illustration of Poles' unquenchable enthusiasm for their 'cell' phones. While the fixed-line market grew 4.7% in 2003, the rise in mobile phone users was 44.6%.
For several years now the term 'cell-phone' in Polish has been associated with new technology. What is interesting, however, is that increasingly people speak simply of 'the telephone' for the mobile. It is becoming, it seems, an increasingly basic form of communication for many Poles, overtaking fixed-line phones. One of the reasons for this is the attractiveness of the product itself. Although, undoubtedly, an equally key reason is the competition on the Polish market, where three companies fight it out, thus guaranteeing dynamic development.
These three companies are: Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC), with the 'Era' and 'Era Tak-tak' (pre-paid) brands; Polkomtel, with its 'Plus' and 'Simplus,' and Centertel, with 'Idea' and 'Idea POP'. The main shareholders of PTC are Deutsche Telekom and the consortium of Vivendi and Polish conglomerate Elektrim. Polkomtel has five main shareholders, each holding almost 20% a piece: Vodafone, TeleDanmark and three Polish firms - KGHM, PKN Orlen and PSE. Shareholders of Centertel are TPSA and France Telecom.
Licenses to use UMTS technology have also been awarded in Poland. There are currently three GSM network operators. The start of the UMTS platforms was planned for January 1st 2004, but in Poland, as elsewhere, a delay of a year or two is being considered.
The most spectacular method of communication in Poland has become the SMS instant message system. Via the SMS system many services are also on offer in Poland, for example, banking services and specialist services created by operators with external entities. With the help of this function one can pay for services and so on. Charity campaigns are also conducted via SMS in Poland. In the first half of 2003, television channel TVN, in co-operation with the Jolanta Kwaśniewska (Poland's First Lady) Foundation, encouraged Poles to take part in the 'Hope renewal' campaign to raise money to help the financially troubled specialist Children's Health Clinic, the largest and most important of its kind in Poland. SMS was one of the methods of collecting money for the campaign.
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