In February, the mobile operator lifecell expanded the coverage of high-speed mobile Internet in another 1,078 settlements in all regions of Ukraine.
Last month the lifecell network was expanded in all regions of the country, in particular in 1,060 settlements with a population of up to 5,000 people, in 15 settlements with a population of up to 25,000 people and in three settlements, where up to 50,000 people live, the company said on Thursday.
Expansion of coverage will reduce the gap in access to digital services between small settlements and cities, lifecell notes.
According to the operator, customers using 4G from lifecell consumed 79% more mobile Internet traffic last month compared to the same period in 2020. At the same time, the total volume of used data traffic in the operator’s network in February increased by 43% on an annual basis.
In the category of cities with a population of more than 1 million people, the capital traditionally takes the first place, followed by Odesa and Kharkiv.
The mobile operator lifecell plans to connect another 148 settlements to the 4G network by the end of December, where more than 200,000 people live.
According to the operator’s statement on Thursday, in November 2020, high-speed Internet from lifecell appeared in 452 settlements throughout Ukraine.
“Among them, 80 settlements are unique, as until this year there was no 4G coverage from any mobile operator,” the company said.
At the same time, over the past six months, high-speed mobile communication 4G from lifecell has appeared in 1,250 settlements where more than 800,000 people live.
To improve communication, the operator installed 301 new base stations during 2020 and upgraded another 764 stations.
In general, in 2020, more than 1 million residents of different regions of Ukraine received access to high-speed mobile Internet from lifecell.
Now access to 3G and 4G communications from lifecell is already available to 75% of Ukrainian residents.
In 2021, the operator plans to actively work on further rollout of coverage, which will reduce the gap in access to digital services between small towns and cities.
The mobile operator Kyivstar is starting to implement VoLTE (voice-over-LTE) technology in its 4G network, which will allow subscribers to make ordinary phone calls through a high-speed mobile Internet.
As noted in the operator’s statement on Tuesday, this technology will work throughout the country by the end of 2020, where the operator’s 4G network is provided.
At first, VoLTE will be available for contract subscribers who actively use most of Kyivstar’s services. And during 2021, the technology will become available to prepaid subscribers.
“In less than three years, 85% of Ukrainians gained access to 4G. In terms of construction rates, Kyivstar is ahead of even the countries of the European Union, which took an average of five years to get the same result. This is a great achievement of the company, which gives us the opportunity introduce new technologies, such as VoLTE. Due to this technology, not only residents of large cities, but also villages, will receive the best quality of voice communication. After all, it will work in a modern 4G network,” President of Kyivstar Oleksandr Komarov said.
The operator said that due to voice transmission via 4G, subscribers will receive better sound quality during calls, and the connection between them will be faster, since the smartphone will not switch between different standards.
The launch of the new technology throughout the country, where 4G from Kyivstar works, will be completed in December 2020.
“The next stage is that the ability to use this technology on subscribers’ smartphones, depends on the device manufacturers. After all, the peculiarity of VoLTE is that smartphone manufacturers separately activate this technology in the network of each mobile operator. For this, Kyivstar is actively negotiating with the most popular brands in Ukraine,” the company said.
According to the operator, such models of Apple smartphones have already been activated: iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, iPhone XR and XS MAX, iPhone SE, and during 2021 smartphone manufacturers will activate VoLTE on other popular models that support this technology.
Mobile network operator Kyivstar has launched 4G communication in the 900 MHz range in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where refarming of radio frequencies and reconfiguration of operator equipment have recently been completed.
“Thus, 4G in the 900 MHz band is already available in all regions of Ukraine. This is the completion of the first important stage of expanding the coverage of high-speed Internet in rural areas, which was launched in June 2020,” the operator’s press service said on Thursday.
Another 84,000 people living in 90 small towns or villages received access to 4G-network from Kyivstar in Donetsk and Luhansk regions today.
“The construction of 4G network in small villages is the most important tool to bridge the digital divide in Ukraine. To make this possible, Kyivstar voluntarily gave up part of its frequencies, which were then distributed among other operators to launch LTE in the 900 MHz band. High-speed Internet is starting to work today in small and remote villages, including those where only 50-100 people live,” President of Kyivstar Alexander Komarov said.
In general, high-speed mobile Internet from Kyivstar is already available in almost 14,000 cities, towns and villages, where 85% of the Ukrainian population lives.
According to the operator, half of these settlements were connected to 4G in 2020.
The company plans to provide at least 90% of the country’s population with high-speed mobile Internet by July 2022.
“The deployment of the national 4G network in rural areas was accelerated thanks to the use of the 900 MHz band, which has a larger coverage radius compared to the 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands. This was preceded by two years of painstaking work with the participation of all mobile network operators, the regulator, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and other public bodies,” Kyivstar said.
Since the beginning of 2020, Kyivstar has invested UAH 4.3 billion in the construction of the network, increasing investments by 22% compared to last year, and in general, over the past five years, the company’s expenses, including on the development of 3G and 4G communication in Ukraine, exceeded UAH 28 billion.
Mobile network operator Kyivstar has increased its 4G coverage in Zaporizhia and Kherson regions; the high-speed mobile coverage area includes 155 more settlements, where 76,000 people live.
The press service of the operator said on Monday that in particular, in Zaporizhia region, the territory of access to 4G Internet expanded by 42 settlements, in Kherson – by 113.
Kyivstar began to provide high-speed mobile Internet services at 900 MHz in the villages of Andriyivka, Davydivka, Mykolayivka, Mostove, Novoprokopivka, Rozivka, and Semenivka (Zaporizhia region), Brylivka, Vysoke, Davydiv Brid, Dolmativka, Kostohryzove, Mykhailivka, Novodmytrivka, Rozdolne, Sirohozy, Stara Mayachka, and Tiahynka (Kherson region).
In order to improve 4G coverage in these settlements, 27 base stations in the LTE 900 band have been installed.
Currently, the total number of mobile base stations of the company exceeds 38,000.
According to the company, Kyivstar has already provided access to 4G for almost 85% of the Ukrainian population. In the first nine months of 2020, more than UAH 4 billion has been invested in the development of new mobile communication technologies.
The mobile network operator Kyivstar has launched 4G communication in 235 settlements in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions.
According to the press service of the operator reporting on Friday, 4G mobile communication appeared in the settlements of Biliaivka, Volokhiv Yar, Hubarivka, Dvorichne, Sakhnovschyna, Starovirivka (Kharkiv region), Vasylivka, Vodiane, Zlatoustivka, Myroliubivka, Novokalynivka, Novooleksandrivka, Pavlopillia (Kharkiv region), etc.
“To improve 4G coverage in these settlements, Kyivstar has installed 27 base stations at LTE 900 frequencies. As a result, another 72,000 people have the opportunity to use mobile Internet at high speed up to 100 Mbps,” the company said.
The total number of Kyivstar mobile base stations exceeded 38,000.
By now, Kyivstar has already provided access to 4G for almost 85% of the population.
The operator invested more than UAH 4 billion in the development of new mobile technologies in the first nine months of 2020.
