Era to rebrand?

Era, the Polish giant dominating the mobile telephony market, could be rebranded to T-Mobile in 2009. Rzeczpospolitareported that Deutsche Telekom (DT), the owner of the T-Mobile brand and a major shareholder in Era-network operator Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC), had informed PTC employees in December that Era would be rebranded.

However, Dziennik's Wall Street Journal Polska supplement reported that no final decision had been made in the matter.

This decision to rebrand might seem surprising, since Era was ranked the sixth most valuable Polish brand - first among mobile telephony brands - by Rzeczpospolita. This won't be the first attempt to transform Era, however. DT made a similar announcement in 2006, when it gained control over PTC, but the decision was later abandoned.

By rebranding Era to the internationally recognized T-Mobile, the company hopes to strengthen its position on the Polish market.

PTK Centertel set a precedent for the market in 2005, when its Idea brand was changed to Orange. Although the cost was high, it helped to improve Centertel's position on the market.

According to Krzysztof Komorowski, an expert from the Sobieski Institute, "The Idea precedent showed that unless the operator's offer gets worse, which personally I don't think will happen, the re-branding will not cause a dramatic change in clients' attitudes. The T-Mobile brand is well known, so in my opinion there will be no serious problems with client trust," he added.

It's possible that yet another operator on the market may rebrand in the next few years. The Polish shareholders of Polkomtel, the operator of the Plus brand, are reportedly close to an agreement with British firm Vodafone.