25th birthday of Plus – 25 years of changes and (r) technological evolution

25 years have passed as one day. During this time, everything in the world has changed. Children grew up, people got rich, and the Internet has grown to a size in which we cannot imagine our life without it. The changes we have experienced have one common denominator: we are online anytime and no matter where we are. 25 years of Plus in Poland have passed – what awaits us in the future?

When we consider the changes that have occurred over the past 25 years, the first thing that comes to mind is the technological revolution. The Internet was born, and with it, interpersonal relations and the method of obtaining information sources changed. Not only cultural, but also linguistic differences have blurred. When Poland was connected online, completely new possibilities opened up. Plus was not only a passive observer, but also a company that actively participated in these events.

The beginnings of the Internet in Poland

You should know that the first analog Internet connection was launched on September 26, 1990, but it was the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Krakow that received the first IP address on November 19, 1990, given by the US Ministry of Defense. A day later, the first e-mail to Poland arrived from CERN, which was received using a microVax II computer.

The first computers with permanent access to the Internet were at the University of Warsaw, the Institute of Nuclear Physics and the Astronomical Observatory – they were connected on December 20, 1991. On the same day, the United States lifted restrictions on connectivity with Poland, and ATM was the first company connected to the Internet in Poland.

It took another three years for the government’s website to be created (1994), and the Internet became accessible to every citizen. The first internet portal appeared in 1995 and it was Wirtualna Polska. In 1996, telephone modems appeared, thanks to which Telekomunikacja Polska offered anonymous access to the Internet. The media was skeptical at first, considering the Internet an unprofessional and too expensive tool.

With the start of the home Internet, on October 1, 1996, the Plus GSM mobile network was launched. Initially offering only voice calls. We waited for the first SMS to be sent until 1998, and for the first Internet, in the form of WAP, until 1999.

In 2020, 90.4% of households in Poland had access to the Internet, and most of them – broadband. In turn, according to the operators, 99% of Poles are currently within the reach of mobile Internet. The path that the Internet has traveled in our country is simply unbelievable.

Man dependent on the Internet

The internet has changed all of us. Twitter has replaced gossip with our neighbors. Instead of meeting at the neighborhood bar, we tweet. Instead of expressing our objection to a topic, we tweet. Twitter culture and the necessity to condense utterances to 144 characters have forced the world to communicate in a new way. There is no room for an extensive conversation or an honest discussion – what counts is the message, preferably filled with hashtags and markings from other Twitter users, extending our reach.

We had to wait a long time for social media on a mobile phone. Although we had our first seeds in 2002. It was then that a new type of data transmission made its debut. EDGE replaced GPRS and was the second generation of packet data transmission in Poland. The speed of up to 296 kb / s allowed to use the phone not only from the e-mail box, but also the Gadu-Gadu communicator. Can we consider him as the Polish progenitor of Twitter?

On the other hand, Instagram is a contemporary window to the world. Some people use it to “peek” at the lives of famous people, others prefer to virtually visit places they will never go to. And yet everything focuses on a nice photo, preferably in an unusual place and with a pretty girl in the foreground. The number of likes is key, but probably more important to the group of followers, because that’s the essence of Instagram. If someone is not enough, he can always take a step forward on Snapchat, where the sent photos disappear a moment after seeing them (something like the famous “this message will self-destruct in five seconds” known from “Mission: Impossible”).

Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat are popular sites, but if “you’re not on Facebook, you don’t exist.” Despite the fact that this is a huge simplification, Facebook has become a modern address book, but also a showcase on which our Internet existence depends. It is here that you can contact other people (from all over the world), sell unnecessary junk, and even make love affairs (my friend has found a girlfriend this way and is planning a wedding in 2023). Virtually every segment of the market can be found on the popular “facebook”, so companies use it as a useful form of communication.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, because there is also YouTube, which is a real treasure of all kinds of things, Spotify, which has changed the way we listen to music, and streaming services such as Polsat Box Go, thanks to which we do not have to go to the cinema. It all comes down to one thing: Homo sapiens AD 2021 is a social being and heavily dependent on being online. Without social media, there is practically no extensive communication today. 25 years ago, we could not even dream of such a world.

The operator also contributed to what we can call the equivalent of a music streaming service. It was Muzodajnia. A service that in 2008 allowed you to download MP3 files for free. Like Tidal today. It was possible thanks to the launch of HSDPA data transmission by Plus in 2007. The speed of up to 7.2 Mb / s was sufficient to fill the small memories of the then mobile devices in a decent time.

Plus it’s evolving all the time

The Plus mobile telephone network has witnessed all the technological changes that have taken place in our country over the past 25 years. Now it is not only the general availability of the network that counts, but also its speed. Plus is developing the 5G network, which is available to an increasing number of Poles every day. Now it is over 15 million inhabitants of our country from almost 500 towns (over 2,200 base stations). Plus is constantly developing 5G coverage so that as many people as possible can use the amenities provided by the best 5G mobile Internet in Poland in the shortest possible time.

Plus develops the capabilities of the fastest 5G in Poland based on available resources and technologies. In Piotrków Trybunalski, Plus’s 5G network in the 2600 MHz TDD technology was additionally extended with the frequencies of 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz, thanks to which, during several measurements under optimal radio conditions, the speed of 1 Gb / s in the commercial network was exceeded. It is a national record. The operator already offers several dozen smartphones and routers that support the 5G network in the 2600 MHz TDD technology.

Autumn is the time of a new campaign presenting the transformation of the key brands of Polsat Plus Group – Plus, Polsat and Polsat Box (previously Cyfrowy Polsat). This transformation is a kind of summary of the technological transformation that has taken place in our country over the past 25 years – it is well summed up by the slogan: “Choose your all”. Without a glass ball, it’s hard to deduce what the world will be like in the next 25 years, but you can be sure that it’s even more online. The technological revolution continues, and 5G is its latest manifestation.