CONNECTING POLAND WITH THE WORLD
ACCESS ALL AREAS
Connecting Poland with the world, Nexera is a unique multi-operator telecommunications company that seeks to provide high-speed broadband to even the most remote areas. Jacek Wiśniewski, CEO, tells us more about the company’s evolution and its journey to excellence
Writer: Lily Sawyer | Project Manager: Liam Pye
Established as a joint venture (JV) project between Infracapital and Nokia, Nexera is a national broadband network company that seeks to offer high-speed, fibre-optic internet access to households across Poland through a vast range of operators.
Utilising EU funds to connect areas including rural towns and villages, the company seeks to counteract digital exclusion in the country by granting residents access to fast and reliable internet.
“The idea was to create a wholesale operator that would build a fibreoptic network, but not have its own subscribers – those would be directly reached by our retail operators,” introduces Jacek Wiśniewski, CEO of Nexera.
Nokia’s extensive technological knowledge has provided a firm foundation for the project. To build Nexera’s superior fibreoptic networks, Nokia’s Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology formed the basis, whilst its international network-building expertise has proven essential.
Nokia and Infracapital leveraged EU funds for the project from the Operational Programme Digital Poland (POPC), which provides funding for investments in digitally excluded areas.
Nexera’s burgeoning success means that it now serves over 700,000 households, boasts 210,000 active users, and has nearly 70 retail operators as part of its network – an unprecedented pace of development within the country’s telecommunications (telecoms) industry.
“We are talking about developing a wholesale fibre-optic operator which had not existed on this scale in Poland before,” Wiśniewski points out.
As it continues to expand, Nexera has set itself the ambitious target of reaching over one million households.
“Looking at our current coverage of 700,000 households, we plan to double this,” he asserts confidently.
A ROBUST BUSINESS MODEL
From the outset, Nexera has sought to establish a streamlined business model, which has since contributed to the company’s rapid development. This includes outsourcing many of its core operations by leveraging existing partnerships and national resources rather than
This was initially necessitated by the company’s relatively short time to market.
Additionally, a strong emphasis on open communication has proven beneficial to Nexera, whilst the company’s transparency with its partners on what it can realistically accomplish has helped to communicate a clear, open message.
“We focus on quick communication and maximum specifics. Our partners see and reciprocate this,” Wiśniewski confirms.
An innovative, automated system can also be attributed to a large proportion of Nexera’s recent growth and expansion.
“To streamline our operations, we recently combined our network resource management and customer service systems. In doing so, we unknowingly invented a novel
NOTABLE AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Since its inception, Nexera has been recognised time and again for its important contributions to the national and global telecoms industry with many awards and achievements, including:
• Innovator of the Year, 2019 – As part of the Golden Antenna competition, Nexera received this prestigious award for its innovative products, noteworthy internal structure, and the creation of an innovative wholesale operator model. This recognition initially surprised the company because it had originally set out to simply create and deliver a solid product which turned out to be something much bigger.
• Best OSS/BSS Deployment, 2020 – This was another important award for the company as it competed not only with the Polish market but with the entire world to achieve it at the Global Carrier Awards. Amongst its competitors were companies with hundreds of millions of subscribers, while at that time, Nexera only had 15 employees. The award recognised Nexera as an innovative, efficient network.
“Having won these awards, we realised that we do things every day that genuinely change the world,” Wiśniewski fondly reflects.
communication process with our operators that had not previously been seen on the market,” he reveals.
Now known as Nexera’s business support system (BSS) and operations support system (OSS), the innovative technology today is responsible for streamlining the company’s daily communication with customers and has directly improved the pace of the entire business.
RELIABLE PARTNERSHIPS
The common perception is that telecoms and broadband networking companies require complex and multifaceted partnership networks. However, the reality for Nexera is much more straightforward.
“Ours is a simple network of reliable, verified partners that are able to meet our coverage and logistics requirements,” Wiśniewski outlines.
For example, Nexera is supplied with passive components for its
fibre-optic networks by Prysmian Group Poland (Prysmian), who perfectly understands the company’s needs. Importantly for Nexera, the factory is located in Poland.
“Companies such as Prysmian give us a sense of security and greater control – instead of exchanging emails and letters, we meet in person to discuss our goals; this style of business suits us,” he confirms.
Whilst EU funds procured from organisations such as POPC have played a significant role in its early development, the company is now seeking its own network of trusted local suppliers.
Although its headquarters are in Warsaw, Nexera initially sought partners from less urban areas within Poland who had the capacity to build more extensively away from the crowded city.
“Our strategy largely relies on supporting local companies,
EME OUTLOOK: COULD YOU OUTLINE NEXERA’S EVOLUTION?
Jacek Wiśniewski, CEO: “When I joined Nexera in 2017, the company had only four employees and, whilst we had significant EU funds and the capital of our investors, we faced the enormous challenge of building a network for hundreds of thousands of households within just a few years.
“At that time, I asked myself a series of questions: what do our partners and Polish residents know about Nexera? How can we anchor the brand in their awareness? Do they even understand the business?
“Initially, no one knew what Nexera was – we built the brand, like the network, from scratch. We quickly realised that we needed to define ourselves more clearly, determine who we were, and communicate our activities, vision, and projects. We wanted to explain to our stakeholders that Nexera is a separate entity whose goal is to provide digital opportunities and build fibre-optic access as quickly as possible.
“We swiftly moved from theory to practice and started broad, active communication, making Nexera the well-recognised telecoms brand that it is today.”
“ULTIMATELY, OUR GOAL REMAINS TO PROVIDE FAST, RELIABLE INTERNET TO AS MANY HOUSEHOLDS AS POSSIBLE, WHILE MAINTAINING OUR COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES”
– JACEK WIŚNIEWSKI, CEO, NEXERA
cleaning, bird feeding, and lake clean-up drives, before extending to first aid training.
“In addition, we’ve initiated gamification within the Nexera Heroes programme, such as counting steps within staff teams. Those who take the most steps in a given period can choose a local organisation or initiative for the company to support financially.”
Generally, Nexera seeks to assist local, low-profile not-for-profits that may lack funding, such as women’s shelters, medical treatment centres, or regional sports clubs.
especially in the regions where we operate,” he details.
As it continues to grow, Nexera seeks to secure many more beneficial business partnerships in the coming years.
STEPS TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
As a company dedicated to sustainability, Nexera is proud to use up to 17 times less power than its competitors.
To achieve this, it has invested in technology that is much less energyintensive than traditional methods used in the country’s copper telecoms networks or mobile telephony.
“We have also taken on several sustainability challenges as a business, such as purchasing exclusively from green-certified suppliers and obtaining our energy from renewable sources,” Wiśniewski prides.
Nexera places an equally strong focus on supporting local communities. For example, its recurring corporate social responsibility (CSR) project, Nexera Heroes, seeks to make impactful changes to the local environment.
The project began with animal welfare initiatives such as zoo
“We have already helped many organisations, and there will be more. The concept of supporting the local community and listening to its needs is deeply ingrained in our DNA,” he reflects.
A BRIGHT FUTURE
As it considers its long-term business strategy, Nexera is focusing on three key areas of development.
It will start by increasing the reach of its network by building additional infrastructure to reach more people, especially those in isolated locations.
The company also plans to deepen its connection with local suppliers, bolster its business relations as it continues to grow, and work even more closely with retail operators.
In addition, Nexera will work to expand its existing CSR activities.
“Ultimately, our goal remains to provide fast, reliable internet to as many households as possible, while maintaining our commitment to social responsibility and sustainable practices,” he concludes.
Tel: +48 22 233 07 00
https://www.nexera.pl/pl/