 | |
 Headquarters inSłużewiec, Warsaw | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | December 1995; 29 years ago (1995-12) (inWarsaw, Poland) |
| Headquarters | , Poland |
Key people | Andreas Maierhofer,Chief Executive Officer |
| Revenue | 1,482,000,000 euro (2018)  |
| −2,500,000 euro (2018) | |
Number of employees | 4,800[1] |
| Parent | Deutsche Telekom |
| ASN | 12912 |
| Website | www |
T-Mobile Polska S.A. is a Polishmobile phone network operator. The company was formerly namedPolska Telefonia Cyfrowa (lit. "Polish Digital Telephony") and operated under the nameEra, until being rebranded asT-Mobile on 5 June 2011. As in other European countries, the company operates aGSM (2G,4GLTE and5GNR) network. Following a decade-long ownership dispute with the FrenchVivendi corporation, the company has been wholly owned by the Germantelecommunications providerDeutsche Telekom since 2010.[2]
Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa was founded as a company in December 1995, and on 26 February 1996 it won a license to provide telecommunications services paging number 602 and permission to build a mobile radio communication network according to theGSM standard in the 900 MHz band, which was later extended to GSM 1800 MHz. The first test (non-commercial) base stations were launched during the International Trade Fair in June 1996 and a few base stations in Warsaw. The commercial launch of the network took place on 16 September 1996.
At the end of 2004, Era had over 8.6 million customers and was the largest mobile phone network operator inCentral Europe, and by the end of June 2011 it had 13.2 million subscribers, placing it third in the market with 30% market share.[3] Era was one of Poland's most recognizable domestic brand names, partly because the company pursued an aggressive advertising campaign that made Era billboards, sponsored events, and other commercials ubiquitous in Poland. Towards the end of 2005, Era became the first mobile phone operator in Poland (and eighth in Europe) to have 10 million customers. The 10,000,000th client signing was celebrated with a concert byVan Morrison inWarsaw. Era was the first operator in the country to launch aHSDPA service in October 2006.
T-Mobile Polska closed its3GUMTS network in April 2023.[4]
The company'sprepaid mobile phone service was formerly calledTak Tak (Yes Yes), and is now calledT-Mobile na kartę.
Heyah is apay-as-you-goflanker brand offered by T-Mobile Polska. The brand was introduced in 2004 as T-Mobile Polska's youth-focused offering but made no reference to either T-Mobile or Era in its branding. Although it was marketed primarily toward young people, it had a substantial effect on the Polish mobile telephony market with its significantly lower prices and one-second billing. Within a month of launch it had attracted over one million users.
In 2020, a series of cryptic advertisements played on TV. They featured regular commercials for products, the commercials would glitch out to show 5 letters (4 of which were censored), which would show a link to a website called "wieszcorobić.pl". It would later be revealed that the 5 letters spelled out "Heyah". The company would rename to Heyah_01
Around 2022, Heyah shifted its target market to theUkrainian minority in Poland.[5][6]
tuBiedronka is a prepaid mobile phone brand offering by T-Mobile Polska in co-operation with the Polish discount supermarket chainBiedronka. The service was launched on 19 January 2009.
In October 2012, the company launched a commercialNFC wallet service in Poland called "MyWallet". The MyWallet services include NFC payment of twoMastercard credit cards and oneMIFARE transit fare-collection card.
In 2023, the Polish branch ofRed Bull Mobile switched from a youth-focused prepaid offer onPlay[7] to an app-based, youth-focused hybrid-postpaid offer on T-Mobile Polska.[8]
Era signed a two-year sponsorship deal withPolish Basketball League in seasons 2003–2005 asEra Basket Liga.
T-Mobile signed a two-year sponsorship deal in June 2011 with theEkstraklasafootballleague, thetop-levelleague inPolish football. Its official name at the time wasT-Mobile Ekstraklasa. The company has proposed to promote the use of new technologies within the game, as well as offering Polish football fans a series of promotional deals. In 2017, the league was renamed toLotto Ekstraklasa for sponsorship purposes afterTotalizator Sportowy [pl], the operator of Poland's national lottery games, took over the sponsorship, with the deal reported to be worth US$7.2 million annually.[9]
In January 2013, T-Mobile Polska started a marketing campaign involving the figure ofVladimir Lenin who was theleader ofSoviet Russia during thePolish–Soviet War (1919–1920). The campaign was intended to promote the brand ofHeyah. The TV and billboard advertisements resulted in a debate onbusiness ethics. The campaign has been viewed as unethical. There has even been some suspicion of the company utilising another controversial figure –Adolf Hitler – in a future campaign.[10] Finally, under the pressure of public opinion and a protest actionHeyah Hitler,[11] the campaign was aborted.[12]
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