Ookla (the United States), the developer of Speedtest service, has recognized Kyivstar as the mobile network operator with the highest average mobile Internet speed in Ukraine in H1 2021, according to a report of Ookla Speedtest posted on Speedtest website.
According to the report, in Ukraine, in January-June 2021, more than 1.5 million tests were made in the company’s network by subscribers of all mobile operators participated. In particular, the total number of tests on the Kyivstar network was 546,000 with average download of 33.2 Mbps and upload of 15.7 Mbps.
Some 613,600 tests were made in the Vodafone Ukraine network with average download of 30.37 Mbps, upload of 13.73 Mbps; on lifecell network – 322,100 tests with average download of 15.72 Mbps and upload of 8.15 Mbps.
According to Ookla, the Speed Score of Kyivstar was 34.65, Vodafone Ukraine – 32.05, lifecell – 15.24. This indicator includes data on download and upload regardless of the standard.
In general, in Ukraine, the application was launched on 472,800 unique devices, of which the top five most popular include iPhone 7 (14,800 tests), Redmi Note 8 Pro (13,800 tests), Redmi Note 7 (13,600 tests), iPhone 11 (12,300 tests), Redmi Note 5 Pro (10,800 tests).
In addition, as noted in the Ookla report, Kyivstar received the highest number of points when testing network coverage in Speedtest – 595. This score is formed on the basis of an analysis of the number of locations where operators provide their services and the quality of mobile communications in each of them. Vodafone Ukraine scored 493 points, lifecell – 321.
The Kyivstar mobile operator in January-June 2021 launched 4G in 2,634 settlements, where about 1.2 million people live, the company’s press service said.
Kyivstar notes that by the end of the year it plans to provide at least 89% of the entire population of Ukraine with high-speed Internet.
“Due to the fact that in July last year, Kyivstar began using 900 MHz frequencies to expand its 4G network, it was possible to significantly increase the coverage in rural areas. First of all, in small villages with 2,000 inhabitants or even less. Now about 12 million villagers have access to 4G, and in cities – 22 million people,” the statement reads.
According to the head of regional marketing of Kyivstar, Mykhailo Mykoliuk, since the beginning of 2021, the operator has installed almost 3,000 new base stations with 4G.
In total, Kyivstar’s 4G network currently operates in more than 15,000 cities and villages of Ukraine. And by the end of the year, Kyivstar plans to increase their total number to 16,000.
Subscribers of prepaid communications of the mobile operator Kyivstar will be able to switch to the contract form of service remotely by calling the operator’s call center.
According to the press service of the operator, it is enough to give your surname, name and date of birth to the operator of the call center to enter them into the contract, and then select a tariff plan.
Further, within 30 days, subscribers will be able to visit any Kyivstar branded store with a passport and TIN to complete the signing of the contract. All this time, they will be able to use the basic services in their new tariff.
“It became possible to simplify the connection of contract tariffs thanks to the operator’s IT systems upgrades to a modern solution from Ericsson,” the report says.
Kyivstar also notes that the company has more than 520 branded stores throughout Ukraine, where customers can complete the transition to a contract, choose another advantageous tariff plan, resolve service issues or purchase a modern 4G smartphone and other gadgets.
“Contract subscribers can have several numbers on one account, which is beneficial for paying and managing the services of the whole family. And, of course, they have a higher level of protection of the number and SIM card, because only an identified owner can carry out all operations with them. This is especially it is relevant if online banking, profiles on social networks and the like are linked to the number,” the operator emphasizes.
Mobile operator Kyivstar has increased its 4G (LTE) network coverage in all regions of Ukraine and connected 815 more settlements to new mobile technologies.
As the company’s press service said on Friday, for this the operator has activated the technology of high-speed data transmission (LTE) at 452 base stations.
Thus, in the southern regions of Ukraine, 4G coverage has been increased on the territory of 316 settlements, in Dnipropetrovsk region – 97, Donetsk and Luhansk regions – 81, in the western regions – in 238, and in the central regions – in 83 settlements.
The report said that in the first quarter of 2021, Kyivstar invested more than UAH 1 billion in the development of new communication technologies, which made it possible to significantly increase the coverage area of the 4G network.
As of the end of April 2021, Kyivstar has installed more than 15,500 base stations in Ukraine, on which LTE (4G) technology is activated. As a result, more than 87% of the Ukrainian population can use access to 4G services in the operator’s network.
The company continues to build new mobile networks so that 90% of the population will have access to 4G by 2022.
The Kyivstar mobile operator during April and May launched high-speed 4G Internet at 900 MHz in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kremenchuk, Kryvy Rih, Mariupol and Mykolaiv, the company said.
“The LTE900 project gave a significant impetus to expanding the network in small villages, where people did not have high-speed Internet before. Over the past year, residents of thousands of such settlements received 4G from Kyivstar, and we already see how quickly the use of the Internet there is growing, digital divide with cities is decreasing,” the director for planning and quality management of Kyivstar networks, Vasyl Pantov, said.
According to him, LTE900 has significant development potential for at least the next few years, primarily for launching 4G in remote, inaccessible villages and on highways, as well as for improving network performance where tens of thousands of customers are already using it at the same time.
The company notes that thanks to the use of 900 MHz frequencies in cities, Kyivstar has improved the quality of the signal indoors, since the advantage of this range is not only in a larger coverage radius, but also in the fact that the signal at low frequencies penetrates better through the walls of buildings, compared to signal at high frequencies.
“As statistics show, thanks to this innovation, 4G coverage inside buildings increased by 5-10 percentage points (p.p.), 4G traffic grew by an average of 7%, and the subscriber satisfaction index according to the survey results also improved by 1-2 percentage points.,” the company said.
Currently, Kyivstar’s 4G network operates in almost 15,000 cities and villages of Ukraine, where more than 87% of the country’s population live.
By the end of 2021, the mobile network operator Kyivstar plans to increase the base of contract clients by 500,000, President of Kyivstar Alexander Komarov told reporters on Wednesday.
At the end of 2020, the operator’s total client base was about 25.9 million mobile subscribers. At present, according to the operator, almost 90% of the Kyivstar network are prepaid mobile subscribers and the company has more than 10% are contract subscribers.
“The [number of] contract [subscribers] should grow by 500,000 new clients this year. This is a definite ambition of Kyivstar. We are generally supporters of identifying our client base and transferring it to more stable forms of connection,” Komarov said.
According to him, despite the fact that, in general, Kyivstar’s client base is stable (no more than 1% decrease year-on-year), in 2020 the prepaid subscriber base decreased 4%, which were redistributed into two segments: FMC (clients using fixed-line and mobile communication) and the contract subscribers.
“Our enemy of the contract is a very low average bill. The main means of transferring a client to a contract is a combination of a phone and payment for communication services. An average smartphone in Ukraine costs UAH 5,000-6,000, and communication services for 12 months – about UAH 1,000. Accordingly, we have very little of this added value to transfer a client to a contract. And in the gray market, the difference in price for a phone between a legal store and an online seller can reach 10-15%,” the president of Kyivstar said.
Kyivstar is a market-leading telecoms operator in Ukraine. It provides communication and data services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed-line technologies, including 3G. By the end of 2020, its services were used by about 25.9 million mobile subscribers and about 1.1 million fixed Internet customers.
The shareholder of Kyivstar is the international group VEON (earlier – VimpelCom Ltd.). The group’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (New York).
