Toya (company)

TOYA is a Polish cable and digital television and telecommunications provider with headquarters in Łódź. The company's network is one of the largest in the country and covers eight cities – Łódź, Kraków, Mysłowice, Kutno, Przemyśl, Piotrków Trybunalski, Pisz and Pabianice. TOYA products and services are also available in thirteen partner networks of other operators across 25 locations. Apart from delivering cable and digital TV, Internet access and VoIP, the company runs several media and cultural projects.
History and development.
The limited company was founded in 1991 in Łódź by Witold Krawczyk and Jacek Kobierzycki. It was one of the first Polish companies permitted to offer Internet services – as early as 1999; the following year it had 1000 subscribers. In 2004 the service was extended to include subscribers in Przemyśl and Mysłowice.
By early 2006, TOYA's network in the eight cities covered over 80% of the area of each city. In October 2008, TOYA took over Pol-Net – a cable TV company from Piotrków Trybunalski; in 2017 it acquired the Kraków-based T-MONT.
According to the Polish Chamber for Electronic Communication (PIKE), the number of TOYA's subscribers in March 2010 was approximately 160.000 – the company came fourth on the list of the largest cable network operators in Poland. The 2017 PIKE statistics position TOYA in fifth place, with 175 000 subscribers in July. Additionally, the company provides access to its services to around 90.000 subscribers of partner networks.
TOYA was the first Polish cable TV provider to offer a triple play (Internet, telephone and TV) model packages to its customers and in 2009, introducing that model won the company the prestigious "Teraz Polska" award given to Polish businesses offering products or services of outstanding quality.
Products and services.
Television.
The company delivers over 250 television channels both via analog TV and its own High Definition digital platform.
Internet.
TOYA delivers Internet connections based on the DOCSIS technology. The company offers its customers a variety of Internet packages of varying speeds (from 6 to 250 Mbit/s). Internet signal is transmitted through Motorola and Cisco cable modems. According to a ranking by Speedtest.pl, in 2017 TOYA offered the fastest cable broadband Internet in Poland.
VoIP.
TOYA provides VoIP telephony.
Mobile services.
TOYA offers mobile phone and mobile Internet connections via the PLAY network.
Toya Group.
TOYA TV.
Toya TV (Polish:"Telewizja Toya") is a local television channel produced by Toya and aimed at residents of Łódź and the voivodeship. The channel was launched on March 1, 1997. TOYA produces its own content and broadcasts it within its own network, over the Internet and via other operators. The channel presents local news, information, opinion, journalism, sports, educational and cultural programs. The TOYA TV daily local news report "Wydarzenia" has an audience of around 100.000. In a 2014 survey, 42% of respondents from Łódź said Toya TV was their main source of local news.
TOYA TV participates in several educational programs, some of which are co-funded by other institutions, such as the National Bank of Poland or the City Council of Łódź.
TOYA Studios.
TOYA Studios are a group of recording, production and post-production studios for audio and film. The studios are located at Łąkowa 29 in Łódź and previously belonged to the Łódź Feature Film Studios, which operated between 1945 and 1998 and produced a number of award-winning postwar pictures directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Roman Polanski and many others. The studio complex has been revitalized and now consists of sixteen studio and sound edit suites and two large halls which can accommodate up to 1200 and up to 2500 people. The studios deliver a few hundred hours of new audio for films and other productions every month and have produced sound for over two hundred contemporary feature films.
Wytwórnia Club.
Wytwórnia Club belongs to the Toya Group and is one of the largest, most active and progressive music and arts venues in Łódź. The club runs a regular programme of around 100 events per year, including music concerts, festivals, film screenings, theatrical performances and art exhibitions. Artists who performed at Wytwórnia include Jan Garbarek, Tomasz Stańko, Chris Botti, Courtney Love, Michał Urbaniak, Al Di Meola and Gary Numan.