The lack of stable and predictable sources of financing, intense competition and a growing number of regulatory obligations are among the biggest challenges facing Poland’s telecommunications market. Industry representatives warn that new obligations imposed on operators and other market players generate additional costs, reducing the funds available for investment in infrastructure, cybersecurity and service development.
“Over the past few years, everyone has realized that telecommunications is the bloodstream of the Polish economy, cybersecurity and services provided to both mass-market and business customers. As a market, we need stable and predictable legislation that does not come as a surprise and is created in full dialogue with the market, in order to understand its capabilities and ambitions in terms of service provision,” Andrzej Abramczuk, chairman of the Council of the Polish Chamber of Electronics and Telecommunications, told Newseria.
According to data from the Office of Electronic Communications, the value of Poland’s telecommunications market reached PLN 44.4 billion in 2024, up 2.9% compared with 2023. At the end of December 2024, 3,658 entities were entered in the register of telecommunications operators, 163 fewer than a year earlier.
One of Europe’s Most Competitive Telecom Markets
Abramczuk argues that the Polish market also lacks stable and predictable financing mechanisms. He points out that the sector is almost entirely privately owned, highly competitive and offers some of the lowest telecom service prices in Europe.
A report titled “The Telecommunications Market in Poland. Between Regulation, Global Competition and Security Challenges”, prepared by Arthur D. Little for the Telecommunications and Digitalisation Council of the Lewiatan Confederation, shows that Poland has for years ranked among EU markets with the lowest average revenue per user for fixed internet services. After adjusting for purchasing power parity, ARPU stands at EUR 17.3. Only Hungary and Romania report lower levels.
The average EBITDAaL margin of Polish operators is around 27%, compared with 38% in France and 41% in Germany. This directly affects their ability to finance investment. The sector’s investment potential depends on financial performance, and so do the quality of services and the infrastructure delivered to customers.
“The combination of all these factors means that every piece of legislation imposed on us generates a cost — sometimes very significant, sometimes lower. But it is the operator that has to cover this cost from its own profits,” Abramczuk said. “At this point, we need to identify a stable and balanced source of state co-financing for these costs, especially when the state creates law or implements legislation from the European Union level.”
Regulatory Costs Are Rising Faster Than the Market
According to the Arthur D. Little and Lewiatan report, Polish telecom operators bear costs related to the right to use frequencies and telecom fees, among other obligations. In 2024, the implementation of the Electronic Communications Law and the Act on Combating Abuse in Electronic Communications generated total costs of PLN 183.9 million for operators.
Between 2017 and 2024, the Office of Electronic Communications’ revenues from fees paid by operators rose by around 160%, while the total market value increased by only around 12%.
Without stable financing, even if supported by commercial funding, it will be difficult for the market to continue growing and remain competitive, especially in relation to global players such as hyperscalers, Abramczuk said.
Telecommunications infrastructure, built largely with private investment and partly with support from EU funds, enables customers to use a wide range of services offered by hyperscalers. However, according to the industry, the level of these companies’ participation in the costs of maintaining and developing telecom infrastructure remains very low.
Big Tech Competition Adds Pressure
Technology giants such as Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft have gradually entered areas traditionally served by telecom operators, including communication tools. Streaming video services have also become an alternative to television delivered through operators’ networks.
The development of cloud platforms has meant that technology companies have taken over part of the telecom sector’s role in data storage, processing and transmission. At the same time, big tech companies are not subject to sector-specific infrastructure fees, while their main fiscal obligations are limited to general taxes such as VAT, CIT and levies related to video-on-demand services.
“For many years, both at European and national level, we have been discussing support for investment in the expansion of telecommunications infrastructure by large hyperscalers and content providers. These talks have been going on for years, but so far they have not brought any satisfactory outcome for the infrastructure market,” Abramczuk said.
Investment in Telecom Infrastructure Falls
According to the Office of Electronic Communications, PLN 9.5 billion was allocated to telecommunications investment in Poland in 2024. This was 14.3% less than in 2023. Of that amount, PLN 8.3 billion, or 86.8%, went to infrastructure.
Experts argue that the decline in capital expenditure does not reflect a lack of need for development, but rather the cost pressure caused, among other things, by new regulatory obligations.
“If we do not reach an agreement within a reasonable time frame on the rules for co-financing further infrastructure development and financing the expenditure that operators must incur on cybersecurity, interoperability and similar issues, development will probably still take place. But the most important factor is time,” Abramczuk said.
He added that Poland needs such mechanisms to emerge within a predictable and relatively short period in order to maintain the competitiveness of its services against large international players.
Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Add New Duties
One example of the regulatory burden on the telecom sector is consumer protection. Arthur D. Little’s analysis shows that the average European operator is subject to obligations in 34 regulatory areas linked to this category.
Abramczuk also points to new cybersecurity rules, including legislation on the national cybersecurity system. This framework covers not only operators, but also several other sectors that were previously not regulated in this way.
The law implements the EU’s NIS2 directive into Polish legislation. It introduces a distinction between essential and important entities operating in strategic sectors such as energy, transport and banking. These entities will have to implement technical and organisational cybersecurity measures to protect their data and infrastructure.
New obligations also affect the operator-customer relationship, including restrictions on how services are provided or communicated, such as door-to-door sales. According to Abramczuk, this requires companies to adjust their systems, change internal regulations and maintain a stable long-term development policy — all of which generate additional costs.
According to the latest data from Statistics Poland, between January and April 2026 Poles paid 3.9% more for information and telecommunications services than in the same period of 2025.
