The Kyivstar mobile communications operator has expanded the territory of coverage with 4G technology in 21 regions in Ukraine and connected 1,046 settlements to the new technologies, providing another 830,000 residents of Ukraine with access to high-speed Internet, the company has said in a report.
So, high-speed mobile Internet appeared in the cities and towns of Baturyn, Berdychiv, Bilovodsk, Varash, Volochysk, Volnyansk, Zolotonosha, Konotop, Manevychi, Mena, Radomyshl, Rubizhne, Sambir, Smila, Starokostiantyniv, Stryi, Khotyn, Schastia, Yampil, as well as several hundreds of villages.
To date, the Kyivstar 4G network operates in 7,885 settlements, 90% of which are located in rural areas. This is the territory where over 29.8 million people or 72% of the population of Ukraine live.
The operator has already installed about 7,500 towers for 4G communications.
The company also said that the operator supported a general plan of action aimed at implementing the decree of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on ensuring nationwide coverage of 4G/LTE in the 900 MHz band.
Kyivstar is considering the possibility of becoming a “donor” of frequencies for other mobile operators, provided that the state takes measures to increase the efficiency of the radio frequency spectrum that Kyivstar may receive as a result of redistribution, the company said.
Kyivstar, a mobile operator, has connected 50 more settlements in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Khmelnytsky regions to the 4G network, the company’s press service has said.
Such an opportunity, in particular, appeared for subscribers in the settlements of Turbiv, Perehinske, Bilohirya, Hnezdychiv, Iziaslav, etc.
Kyivstar’s 4G network operates in 6,867 settlements, 90% of which are located in rural areas. The total number of residents in the territory of 4G accessibility is over 29 million people, or 70% of the population of Ukraine.
Over 7.5 million subscribers used 4G services in Kyivstar network.
Kyivstar is a Ukrainian telecommunications operator. It provides communications and data transmission services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 3G. At the end of 2018, its services were used by about 26.4 million mobile subscribers and about 900,000 fixed Internet customers.
The Big Three mobile operators (Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine and lifecell) have declared the Ukrainian subsidiary of the Chinese company Huawei the winner of the tender to find a contractor for the construction of a 4G network in Kyiv Metropoliten. “The contractor has been defined, it is Huawei. And we are awaiting the start of construction. The works are funded by the three mobile operators,” Kyivstar’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, the press services of the operators refused to name the cost of work.
In October 2018, the Big Three operators began an independent tender for the supply of equipment and technical work on the transition to the 4G standard in the Kyiv subway.
4G, BUILD, HUAWEI, KYIV, METROPOLITEN
The Kyivstar mobile communications operator plans in 2019 to expand the 4G (LTE) mobile communication network, covering the territory of Ukraine where 75% of Ukrainian population lives, President of Kyivstar Alexander Komarov told reporters in Lviv on Saturday. “We invest a lot in expanding coverage, but we invest even more in coverage capacity in order to support the growing consumption trend,” he said.
Komarov recalled that in 2018, Kyivstar invested UAH 8.3 billion in the purchase of new frequencies and the construction of a network. “We covered 68% of the population in a year with LTE services. Our goal is 75% of the LTE population this year,” he said. The president of Kyivstar also said that in Lviv, the operator had begun a program on placing micro-sites (base towers) on city lighting and electric transport pylons in order to improve network coverage and capacity. “It is very modern and incredibly efficient. We still have problems with radiophobia and access to infrastructure, and such a solution plan with the support of the city and region helps us to solve fundamental problems of infrastructure development. We can build better coverage. We more often do not face homeowner associations, permissions,” he said.
Komarov said that the situation when the operator actually deals with one or two counterparties allows it to develop the network quickly, without spending a lot of time on negotiating documents or disputes on the placement of towers.
“No 5G revolution is possible without such solutions, because the development of 5G communication is an explosive growth in the number of micro-sites, especially in the heavily built-up areas,” Komarov said.
According to him, Kyivstar plans to scale the experience of placing microsites in Lviv and other areas, thereby solving the problem of access to urban infrastructure.
“In some areas, we are confronted with opposing phenomena – when, despite the actual availability of the law on access to infrastructure, it is still not implemented, operators cannot obtain permission to locate base towers in urban infrastructure,” Komarov said.
According to him, such illegal actions on the part of a number of public utilities and state-owned enterprises significantly hamper the development of the operators’ networks.
The Kyivstar mobile communications operator in January-March 2019 connected 968 localities in 24 regions of Ukraine to the 4G communications (LTE) network, the press service of the company has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“In the first quarter of 2019, Kyivstar connected 968 localities to the 4G communications network, connecting 10 new localities per day. This happened in all regions,” the company said.
According to Kyivstar’s press service, today the operator’s 4G communications network is available in 4,587 localities in the territory where 24.1 million people live (58% of the population of Ukraine).
At the same time, 43% of all mobile data traffic of Kyivstar is generated in the 4G network.
In March 2019, Kyivstar subscribers used the volume of mobile Internet equal to the consumption for the entire 2016 (40 petabytes).
In the first quarter, most of all localities in Ivano-Frankivsk (120), Lviv (108) and Rivne (103) regions were connected. Also among the leading regions in the number of localities connected to the 4G network are Kyiv and Vinnytsia regions: 73 and 69 respectively.
Kyivstar is a Ukrainian mobile communications operator. VEON international group (earlier VimpelCom) is the shareholder in Kyivstar. The group’s shares are listed on NASDAQ (New York).
Kyivstar, the leading Ukrainian mobile communications operator, plans to invest in the development of 4G (LTE) standard by 18-20% more in 2019 compared with 2018, Kyivstar President Alexander Komarov has said. In 2018, capital expenses of the company totaled UAH 3.1 billion. “In 2018, we increased investment in LTE by 18%. In 2019 and 2020, we are planning to maintain the same growth pace and even more – up to 20%,” he told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday.
Komarov said that Kyivstar, like other mobile operators that have purchased 3G and 4G licenses at tenders, are now in the middle of the investment cycle for implementing these communication standards.
“For a few more years, we will actively invest in comparative amounts in LTE, about UAH 3 billion a year,” the president of the largest operator said.
He said that at present, Kyivstar is focusing on the introduction of a more promising in terms of speed and data volume transmission 4G. The president of the company said that if the state is ready to provide the operator with frequencies in the range of 700-800 MHz and ensure the principle of technology neutrality for the market, the above investments can be increased to cover new village communication standards and reduce the “digital gap.”
Komarov also expressed the opinion that the possible implementation of the 5G communication standard in the Ukrainian market is still premature, since it is ahead of the market needs and the willingness of market players to invest.
At the same time, he said that Kyivstar intends to invest annually about UAH 100 million of its own funds in new promising business areas, among which he called FinTech, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud solutions and technologies, big data.
According to him, the goal is to bring the share of this new income of the total income of Kyivstar over three years to 10%. The president of the company said that the search for optimal forms of cooperation with possible partners in these areas is currently underway.
