Samsung Elec and Polish teleco Play to conduct 4G/5G trials in Poland

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

Samsung Electronics Co. will be conducting 4G and 5G trials in Warsaw, Poland with Play, a leading Polish mobile operator, the Korean tech giant said on Wednesday.

Market watchers say Samsung is more likely to win telco network equipment from Poland as multiple European countries have joined the U.S. sanction on Chinese dominant telecommunications equipment player Huawei Technologies from 5G infra contracts.

Play is a leading mobile network operator in Poland with over 15 million subscribers across the nation, covering 99 percent of the Polish population.

Samsung and Play will verify the capability and performance of Samsung’s 4G and 5G network solutions in the trial, which will be carried out in Play’s labs and commercial networks, beginning in the second quarter of this year. This trial will also test the interoperability between Play’s 2G/3G legacy networks and Samsung’s latest solutions.

The U.S. government imposed various sanctions against Huawei, saying the Chinese telecom giant could pose a threat to national security, and requested allies not to use Huawei equipment in 5G projects. Huawei is a global market leader in 5G equipment rollouts based on massive home market sales.

“Leveraging our advanced 5G solutions and technical leadership, we will continue to expand our global and European presence with leading operators like Play to take 5G user experience to new heights,” said Thomas Riedel, Head of Europe, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics.

“The partnership with Samsung is another initiative that allows us to choose the best solutions for the rollout of our network,” said Michał Ziółkowski, Management Board Member and Chief Technology Officer at Play.

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