State-of-the-art Nokia lab in Wroclaw [PHOTOS]

Nokia Networks launched their brand new centre in Wroclaw with a formal ribbon cutting ceremony and a glass of champagne on Thursday 10 December. The centre is going to provide jobs to 1,200 people IT specialists working on new solutions for GSM operators.

Nokia's new office and one of the most modern technology labs globally are located in the newly developed West Gate building in ul Lotnicza. This is Nokia's fourth location in the capital of Lower Silesia. The company has their offices and labs at Bema Plaza, Green Towers and Wroclaw Business Park.

"With over 1,000 new people employed in 2014, the dynamic development of our centre is due to the fact that our engineers create cutting edge solutions for GSM operators. and develop technologies for the future such as the 5G network, which won't be used commercially until 2020," says Nokia's Wroclaw R&D Centre. He adds: "Fifteen years ago, when our Wroclaw R&D Centre was established, the company employed only 10 people in the city. The number has now grown to 2,850 specialists."

"The newly opened Nokia lab only goes to show that people who are ambitious and want to develop will be able to make their dreams come true in Wroclaw," says President of the Wroclaw Metropolitan Area Development Agency Dariusz Ostrowski.

Nokia's Wroclaw branch is the company's third largest R&D centre globally and one of the leading R&D centres in the world.

"Nokia is one of the largest IT players in Wroclaw. They now also have one of the largest R&D centres. This is very important for the city. The Wroclaw Metropolitan Area Development Agency strives to create an atmosphere that is favourable to the Wroclaw IT industry and attractive to prospective employees. We also foster collaboration between business and universities. Nokia is our partner in this respect. We also work on the educational programme for young people in Wroclaw," says Łukasz Czajkowski, Head of the Business Support Centre at the Wroclaw Metropolitan Area Development Agency.

"IT thrives in Wroclaw due to our Faculty of Local Engineering and Wroclaw manufacturing businesses. Nokia's centre shows the potential of the city and its residents," adds Professor Tadeusz Więckowski, Rector of the Wroclaw University of Technology.

State-of-the-art Nokia European Software and Engineering Centre Laboratory

Wroclaw's Nokia labs work on cutting edge solutions to be used as software or apps. These include solutions for LTE i LTE-Advanced technologies as well as the Internet of Things (IoT) or 5G.

"The lab section of the building has a reinforced ceiling to accommodate the equipment, which is several hundred tonnes in weight. Additionally, the floor has a special ventilation system installed that is necessary to cool our apparatus. The network is interconnected with several hundred km of cable," says Nokia Lab Director Bartosz Srebrniak.

Nokia representatives speak of the Wroclaw centre's technological achievements that have changed the course of history: first commercially used LTE radio network, research on 5G, first commercially used WCDMA (3G) radio network, first Multiradio implementations for: GSM, WCDMA, LTE.

Wroclaw's Nokia Networks labs are guarded as heavily as banks. The lab made an exception to accept visitors on 10 October during 1. edition of the Long Night of Museums.

Nokia's social and scientific projects in Wroclaw include: Code::Dive software conference, meetings for women interested in new technologies, and Wroclaw KnowCamp sessions for computer programmers as well as Nokia Books, a special volume to share know-how with experts by experts.

Nokia in Poland

Nokia's Polish divisions are currently giving jobs to over 3,750 people and are one of the largest in Europe. The majority of Nokia's employees work in R&D centres located in Wroclaw and Kraków. Nokia is a leading infrastructure and services supplier to Polish GSM operators, the GSM-R system and PKP PLK. Their global Service Centre in Warsaw serves Nokia's clients throughout the world.

Photograph: Jarek Ratajczak