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Three Bids Enter Race to Operate Poland’s New Television Multiplex
🇵🇱 Poland /Technology

Three Bids Enter Race to Operate Poland’s New Television Multiplex

From Rzeczpospolita · () Polish

Translated from Polish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Documents & data New plan
  • Emitel, MWE Teleport and BCast submitted bids in a competition organized by Poland’s Office of Electronic Communications to operate a new terrestrial television multiplex.
  • MWE Teleport says alternative transmission infrastructure could increase broadcaster choice and reduce dependence on Emitel’s dominant market position.
  • The bidders reported sharply different financial results, with Emitel far larger than MWE Teleport and BCast.

Three companies have entered the contest to operate Poland’s new digital terrestrial television multiplex: market leader Emitel, MWE Teleport and BCast, which belongs to the Cyfrowy Polsat group.

The Office of Electronic Communications published the list of bidders. The result did not surprise the market, because all three companies had previously signaled interest. For Emitel, the contract would add another multiplex to its existing operations. For MWE Teleport and BCast, it would open a new chapter in their businesses.

Without alternative infrastructure, there is no real competition.

— Karol WardaHe argued that MWE Teleport’s bid could challenge Emitel’s dominant infrastructure position.

Cyfrowy Polsat declined to discuss BCast’s plans at this stage, while Emitel also remained silent. MWE Teleport took the opposite approach. It issued a press release with photographs showing the submission of its bid, evoking earlier contests for UMTS and LTE frequencies.

“Without alternative infrastructure, there is no real competition,” Karol Warda, a member of MWE Teleport’s management board and president of MWE Networks, said. He said the company had submitted a concrete offer to show that nationwide terrestrial television did not have to rely on one dominant operating model.

We submitted a concrete offer and showed that nationwide terrestrial television does not have to be based on one dominant operating model.

— Karol WardaHe described the purpose of MWE Teleport’s bid for the new multiplex.

Warda described the project as a business effort to challenge Emitel’s infrastructure advantage, give broadcasters more choice and support MWE’s expansion. He also gave the bid a security dimension, arguing that Poland should have more than one independent system capable of delivering television signals to citizens during crises. In his view, diversifying the country’s communications infrastructure is an element of security rather than a luxury.

Financial figures show the scale of the competition. Based on reports in Poland’s National Court Register, one company recorded 4.6 million zlotys in revenue and 1.4 million zlotys in net profit in 2025, while another had about 4.4 million zlotys in revenue and 950,000 zlotys in profit. BCast reported roughly 10.5 million zlotys in revenue and 1.1 million zlotys in net profit. Emitel recorded nearly 689 million zlotys in consolidated revenue and just under 168 million zlotys in group net profit.

Poland should have more than one independent system enabling mass delivery of a television signal to citizens, including in crisis situations.

— Karol WardaHe presented the project as part of the country’s communications security.
About this summary

Originally published by Rzeczpospolita in Polish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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