Polish mobile operators PTK Centertel and PTC have signed a letter of intent to set up a 50-50 joint venture with a view to sharing mobile network infrastructure and radio frequencies.
The companies have filed a motion to the Polish Competition Office,…
Polish mobile operators PTK Centertel and PTC have signed a letter of intent to set up a 50-50 joint venture with a view to sharing mobile network infrastructure and radio frequencies.
The companies have filed a motion to the Polish Competition Office, which is expected to take up to three months to decide on the approval. The finalisation of the project remains uncertain as after receiving permission, the parties will have to agree on the details of the joint venture, including the shareholder’s agreement.
In a release, TP Group said the new entity would manage, operate and maintain – but not own – parts of both companies’ respective 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz networks and frequencies possibly awarded to them in the future.
The authorities are planning to launch the sale of LTE frequencies in Q1 next year, but the frequencies are still to be released by the army.
Earlier this year, the Polish regulator gave permission to PTK Centertel and fourth mobile operator P4 to jointly build an LTE network.
A spokesperson said: “We’ve the option the roll-out LTE technology with P4 and the option to do with PTC, but at the moment nothing has been decided as the authorities still have to sell the frequencies.”
TP Group said in a release: “Upon implementation, co-operation may deliver cost and capex efficiencies of hundreds of millions of zloty for TP Group over the next 5 years.”
TP Group is owned by France Telecom, while PTC is owned by Deutsche Telekom. The French and German incumbents last year combined their mobile operations in the UK and created Everything Everywhere.
