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Mobile phone companies in Poland

posts: 21

corpThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Joined: Dec 1, 08 Gender: Male	Dec 1, 08, 22:34 #1
Hey fellow Pollocks, I'm doing a report on telecommunications in Poland, and I'm trying to get a sense of the mobile phone/provider market. Since I'm not from Poland (i'm Polish, but never been there), It's tough getting this data from the internet without knowing exactly where to look. My project is about taking No(kia) phones and expanding the market into Poland, which they are already in. Anyways, here's a few questions i have... 1) Who are the premier service providers in Poland? - For example, in America, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are some of the top providers. 2) Of these premier providers, can you buy phones through them at a discount? In the US, phones are cheapest when purchased with a service plan. If not, they're extremely high. Does Poland have the same market strategy? 3) Do you know which providers DO and DO NOT carry No(kia) phones? 4) Whose phones have the best reputation in Poland? i.e. No(kia) vs. Samsung, No(kia) wins because they're European, etc. 5) Is the market generally mid-to-low range phones, or are people out to get fancy phones like Apple's iPhone?

Guest	Dec 1, 08, 23:58 #2
do u think market research is free?

corpThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Joined: Dec 1, 08 Gender: Male	Edited by: Moderator Dec 2, 08, 10:05 #3
don't be a dick. that's the problem...you have to pay for all the data. this is just for a friggin school project; i'd rather not spend $1k+ for market research. You might want to be a little less aggressive towards people who are giving you FREE help.

LondonChickThreads: 43 Posts: 1311 Joined: Nov 19, 07 Gender: Female	Dec 2, 08, 10:11 #4
Have a look on interfax.pl - there might be some telecoms data there. Or if you're feeling bold, you can always call them and tell that that you're a student etc. Just be gracious though - after all, they're not a charity.

WroclawThreads: 49 Posts: 4229 Joined: Apr 1, 06 Gender: Male	Dec 2, 08, 10:20 #5
I imagine that most people, especially young, get their phone as part of a package. Example: In this house we have two N95 8GB which came as part of an upgrade. If it doesn't have MP4, no-one (youth) is interested. If an iPhone or equivalent is available... then it's a must. Hope this helps.

KrzysztofThreads: 3 Posts: 1227 Joined: Jul 26, 07 Gender: Male	Dec 2, 08, 10:42 #6
corp: 2) Of these premier providers, can you buy phones through them at a discount? In the US, phones are cheapest when purchased with a service plan. If not, they're extremely high. Does Poland have the same market strategy? Yes.

corpThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Joined: Dec 1, 08 Gender: Male	Edited by: corp Dec 2, 08, 12:15 #7
corp: You might want to be a little less aggressive towards people who are giving you FREE help. Mr./Mrs. Guest was not helpful at all! thanks to everyone else for their helpful, informative posts!

Guest	Dec 2, 08, 13:04 #8
Well, I am Polish but I life in the US so I think I can help. First of all they are called cell phones there as well. Poles don't say mobile, only Brits I think do. Why are you saying mobile if you're from the US? Hate that. Cell phones in Poland work on GSM network, phones from AT&T working on GSM network in the US won't work though as they are on different band. Cells from Poland may work in the USA if they are quatro or triple band. They will work in any other country in the world too (except the USA). Certainly cell phone has to be unlocked. You can easily unlock any phone in Poland and any other European country incl new IPhone as this procedure is legal in Europe. As far as I know (haven't been to Poland in years) there are three major cell phones providers in Poland - Era, Plus and Orange.They offer great phones as it seems Europe is way ahead of the USA when it comes to the cell phone technology. The locked ones are cheap, unlocked quite expensive. They come with the contract and prepaid package. Prepaid system is much more popular here in Europe then it is in the USA. The sometimes call it "pay as you go" and you can buy more minutes anytime online or at ATM using your credit or debit card. There are also prepaid scratch vouchers available at almost any store. You can also credit your prepaid account at checkout at any bigger store. It is cheap and very common. Contracts are not popular among private users as you have to sign for at least 12 months and people in Europe are very resistant to that. Of course if you have a small company and make many phone calls it is usually the best way to go. Please keep in mind that contracts are much more expensive in Europe. Just forget 2000 minutes anytime for less then 100$ and that is what I pay right now being on Verizon. I travel a lot within the USA and they offer the best coverage to my knowledge. Of course I know they're not on GSM and that makes theirs cell phones useless outside the States.

KrakowiankaThreads: 2 Posts: 274 Joined: Oct 16, 08 Gender: Female	Dec 2, 08, 13:12 #9
Guest: AT&T working on GSM network in the US won't work though as they are on different band. Cells from Poland may work in the USA if they are quatro or triple band. They will work in any other country in the world too (except the USA). US cell phones that are tri band will work in most larger cities in PL, but may have trouble keeping a signal. However quad band phones work all over the world. So the "except the USA" part is incorrect. Poles in Poland seem to favor the nokia. They boast that its battery life is much better than any competitor. Poles also tend to shell out quite a bit on their phones, in comparison to their earnings. All the nokia N series are expensive in the US and rarely seen, however in Poland they are all over the place and people seem ok to shell out nearly a months salary to pay for them.

Guest	Dec 2, 08, 13:17 #10
There are very fancy cell phones available in Poland. The ones that come with the contract are cheap but locked so people prefer to buy fancy phones on line or at stores. You can buy them cheap if they are locked and then unlock them easily and inexpensively. Great deals on unlocked cell phones can be found on allegro.pl which is sort of like an Ebay in the States. The selection of cells that come with the prepaid packages is not that impressive. In Europe you can buy only a SIM card which allows to use your own cell phone. As far as brands are concern I can;t really help with that. I just know that Motorola phones so common in the States are quite unpopular here. And yes of course there are new iPhones here.

Guest	Dec 2, 08, 13:23 #11
Yes, krakowianka is cetainly right. I meant to say that most AT&T cell phones will not work in Poland and Europe as they are not at least tri band phones. Of course any tri band or quad band cells will work in the US and everywhere else in the world. If you have that kind of phone, unlocked on any American GSM network then you can simply take it with you on your trip to Europe.

KrakowiankaThreads: 2 Posts: 274 Joined: Oct 16, 08 Gender: Female	Dec 2, 08, 13:25 #12
iphone is only 1zl if you sign an expensive contract with Orange. In the US, the iphone is $200 with a contract. Seems PL gives bigger discounts to those signing contracts, in the US if you want a crappy phone you'll get it for free, all others are $$$

Guest	Dec 2, 08, 13:27 #13
Krakowianka: All the .... N series are expensive in the US and rarely seen, however in Poland they are all over the place and people seem ok to shell out nearly a months salary to pay for them. Oh, is it really so? I heard there are very fancy ones on European market buy why do they worship cell phones that much?

Guest	Dec 2, 08, 13:32 #14
Yeah, that is absolutely true. I am sorry to say but the US market is full of crappy phones. Just plain junk at Target or Walmart or RadioShack The nice ones tend to be more expensive then in Europe unless you buy them from websites like Ebay.

Guest	Dec 2, 08, 13:34 #15
"than" of course

WroclawThreads: 49 Posts: 4229 Joined: Apr 1, 06 Gender: Male	Dec 2, 08, 13:54 #16
Guest: why do they worship cell phones that much? It's all about having what the next guy doesn't have. And the simple fact that better phones are available. The phone companies can sucker people in with technology. An upgrade means higher rental. The phone companies play on this. They know that they will get their money back by almost giving away the best phone. It's also possible to get free gifts along the way.... with a points system. A member of this household not long ago got some sort of iPlayer (mp4) for free.

Guest	Dec 2, 08, 15:37 #17
Freebies like mp4 player just for having a cell phone on a contract. Wish had that with my Verizon in the States.

WroclawThreads: 49 Posts: 4229 Joined: Apr 1, 06 Gender: Male	Dec 2, 08, 15:51 #18
Guest: Freebies like mp4 player just for having a cell phone on a contract To be honest. I think it had more to do with international calls and a long period of time to build up the points.

Guest	May 4, 09, 15:09 #19
i dont like when someone trying to learn over here a cellular phone profession .....

milmberThreads: - Posts: 10 Joined: Apr 28, 08 Gender: Male	May 4, 09, 20:04 #20
Hi corp, The main mobile providers in Poland are: - Plus GSM - Era - Orange (TPSA - but the UKE is trying to change that) - Play

P1h1L1	Jul 3, 09, 20:36 #21
I plan to go to Poland with a not locked N0kia 1600... Where can I buy a "pay&go" SIM card to be able to call Belgium ? What is the cheapest and/or the smallest ? PhL

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