Polish mobile operators Orange and P4 (Play) are planning to form a joint-venture company to jointly bid for LTE spectrum in the country’s upcoming 2.6GHz auctions. According to a report by LTE World, P4 confirmed the alliance in a company blog post, noting that it would “reduce [the] costs and risks through economies of scale.” The firms have approached local regulators for permission, though the final shape of the agreement will depend on the license terms, which have yet to be published. According to the report, the Polish regulator – UKE (Office of Electronic Communications) – has proposed the sale of just two frequency blocks, each of them too large to be able to used by a single operator. Some type of network sharing is therefore required to launch the new networks.

Orange Poland is the country’s largest mobile operator and had 13.8 million subscribers at the end of the first quarter, according to Wireless Intelligence data. Launched in January 2008, P4 – a 3G specialist – is a distant fourth in the Polish market (behind Orange, Polkomtol and PTC) but is one of the largest 3G operators in Eastern Europe. The firm had 3 million connections by the end of the first quarter, and is targeting a double-digit market share by 2012. P4’s private-equity owners – Cyprus-based fund Tollerton Investments (50.2 percent) and Iceland-based fund Novator (49.7 percent) – put the business up for sale at the beginning of the year. A takeover by a larger local rival has not been ruled out.