Cellnex Poland has picked Ericsson as one of its suppliers to modernise and expand the 5G radio access network that carries traffic for Polkomtel's Plus mobile brand. The deal spans radios, RAN compute modules, microwave links, antennas and site enclosures.

Several of the products covered by the agreement are being deployed at scale for the first time. Cellnex becomes the lead customer for Ericsson's new high-power E-band microwave radio, the MINI-LINK 6356, used for high-capacity backhaul. It is also carrying out the first large-scale deployment of Ericsson's Transport Automation Controller, an AI-based platform that automates management of microwave backhaul links. Ericsson's AIR 3229 dual-band radio is entering the Polish market under the same contract, and Cellnex has also adopted Ericsson's energy and enclosure platform for its sites.

The equipment is built around Ericsson's own silicon, which the vendor says delivers better energy efficiency, a smaller physical footprint and lower tower load than earlier generations. Ericsson did not disclose financial terms or site volumes.

What is the operator context?

Cellnex Poland operates the passive infrastructure that Polkomtel, the mobile operator selling services under the Plus brand, uses to serve its subscribers. Any RAN upgrade at Cellnex flows directly into the 5G experience Plus customers receive, and the contract signals Cellnex is consolidating its radio supplier base around Ericsson for the next upgrade cycle.

Why does the choice of microwave backhaul matter?

The MINI-LINK 6356 is an E-band product positioned for high-capacity backhaul in dense urban and high-traffic 5G sites where fibre is uneconomic. E-band sits in the 60-90 GHz range and delivers multi-gigabit capacity over short distances. Pairing the new radio with the Transport Automation Controller is the practical differentiator: Cellnex is the first tower operator to run that controller at scale, with AI managing routing, capacity and link performance across the microwave transport layer.

How does Ericsson fit into the Polish ecosystem?

Ericsson employs around 2,000 R&D engineers in Kraków and Łódź and manufactures equipment for the European market at a plant in Tczew operated with contract manufacturer Flex. The R&D footprint puts local software and integration work close to the customer, and Tczew gives Ericsson a Polish production line for radios and microwave units shipping across the EU.

What did the customer say?

"The growing demand for mobile data transfer requires not only the modernisation of active equipment. It also needs an increase in quantity to densify the service while, at the same time, improving energy efficiency, equipment optimisation, network resiliency and environmental effects," Leszek Lis, Director for Operations and Member of the Management Board of Cellnex Poland, said in the Ericsson release.

The dual-band AIR 3229, which combines two frequency bands in a single radio unit, targets one of the costliest parts of any 5G rollout: separate antennas and radios for each band. Putting two bands in one box reduces site hardware, tower load and energy draw, the three metrics Lis singled out.

With several products deployed at scale for the first time in a single agreement, the contract makes Ericsson a central supplier for Cellnex Poland's upgrade cycle. Any performance issues with the new hardware will flow directly into Plus's 5G service quality.

Neither Cellnex nor Ericsson disclosed the contract value or the number of sites covered. With deployment under way, the first commercial Plus traffic running over the upgraded Ericsson equipment is the next visible test of how the new radio, microwave and AI-managed transport layer perform in the field.