Ericsson, Play and Asseco test network-based drone detection in Poland

Ericsson has demonstrated drone detection on a live Polish mobile network, using radio signals rather than cameras or radar to spot aircraft that carry no mobile connection of their own. The Swedish vendor ran the trial with Polish operator Play and local technology company Asseco, showing that an operator's existing radio infrastructure can double as an airspace surveillance asset.

The technology at the centre of the demonstration is Integrated Sensing and Communication, or ISAC. It works by transmitting radio signals that bounce off nearby objects and return to the network, letting the system detect drones even when they are not registered on any mobile network. Beyond detection, the same signal processing tracks the drone's location and movement over time.

How did the three partners split the work?

Each company contributed one layer of the stack:

• Ericsson supplied the ISAC sensing capability built on its radio technology.
• Play provided the mobile network that carried the detection data as backhaul.
• Asseco contributed acoustic detection technology and its PUSZCZYK platform, where the combined data was visualised so operators could see where drones were flying.

The pairing matters for practitioners. Radio-frequency sensing catches drones that are silent to conventional listeners, while Asseco's sound detection adds an independent, corroborating sensor type. Fusing both on a single platform reduces false alarms and gives operators one picture of low-altitude airspace rather than two partial ones.

What did the executives say?

Martin Mellor, Head of Ericsson Poland, framed the trial as a proof of concept with national-security relevance. "Together with Asseco and using Play's mobile network for the backhaul, we can create an advanced, situational awareness platform for drone detection and tracking," he said. "We are proud to work together to show how this can look in real life, protecting critical infrastructure in Poland."

Michał Ziółkowski, CTO and Member of the Management Board at Play, went further, positioning the network itself as a strategic state asset. "Today, a modern telecommunications network is far more than a communication tool," he said. "It is a strategic and critical infrastructure asset that serves as a foundation for economic growth, digital transformation and, crucially, the security of the state and its citizens." He added that the Play network's scale, availability and resilience allow it to support advanced monitoring and airspace protection systems by leveraging existing infrastructure and resources.

Grzegorz Bartler, Vice President of Asseco Poland, pointed to the value of combining detection methods on a single platform. "With a powerful combination of technologies and detection methods integrated into our PUSZCZYK platform, we can gather a rich set of data to see what is happening in our airspace," he said. "This is crucial for protecting sensitive areas and critical infrastructure."

Is a commercial deployment next?

For now, this remains a demonstration rather than a contract. No deployment timeline, coverage footprint or pricing has been announced by any of the three partners, and operators should read the executive statements as positioning rather than product availability.

The trial still signals where the market is moving. ISAC sits inside the 5G-Advanced and early 6G standards agenda, where network sensing is emerging as a recognised capability, and Ericsson has run similar drone-detection work elsewhere, including a test with Finland's Erillisverkot on 5G-based detection. For operators, the Polish trial sketches a plausible commercial model: monetise existing radio sites and spectrum as sensing infrastructure for critical-infrastructure protection, with the operator selling backhaul and coverage rather than building new sensor networks. Ericsson and its partners have yet to say when, or whether, PUSZCZYK-integrated ISAC will move from demonstration to live service on the Play network.