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 jointly with Alfa Insurance (Kyiv) has launched the online travel insurance service for prepaid and contract subscribers.
The cost of an insurance policy for a seven-day trip will be about UAH 300 (the total cost of the policy depends, among other things, on the exchange rate). At the same time, it is valid in all countries, covering all medical services in case of the need to provide emergency assistance abroad.
The amount for which the subscriber is insured is EUR 30,000. At the same time, prepaid subscribers will receive a bonus of UAH 100 to the account, contract subscribers – an additional 20 minutes in roaming. Bonuses are valid 30 days after the start of the insurance period and only in roaming.
The cost of the policy for 14 days will be about UAH 600, for 21 days – about UAH 950.
The subscriber can receive and pay for the policy online without visiting the company’s office.
Roaming from Kyivstar is available in 195 countries.
The Kyivstar mobile communications operator plans soon to start providing 4G mobile communications services in Kharkiv subway, the press service of the operator has told Interfax-Ukraine.
Kyivstar, in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine, registers all trademarks that can be used for promotional purposes. In particular, the company plans to soon provide 4G services in Kharkiv subway,” Kyivstar said.
Earlier, the operator submitted an application for the brand “Yakіsniy 4G Uzhe v Metro.” The corresponding notification was placed in the register of trademarks of the Ukrainian Intellectual Property Institute (Ukrpatent) accepted for registration.
Kyivstar is the largest Ukrainian mobile operator. It provides communication and data services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G. As of the end of 2018, about 26.4 million mobile subscribers and about 0.9 million fixed Internet clients used its services.
Kyivstar, the leading Ukrainian mobile operator, has announced the demonstration of a base station for 5G networks and equipment testing, which allows increasing the capacity of one LTE cell by 6.5 times.
“After the certification and registration of new equipment in Ukraine is completed, the company will implement it in places with high concentration of mobile traffic, for example, stadiums, concert venues, and places of public events,” the report says.
According to the report, the base station is equipped with the new Massive MIMO technology (a multipath active antenna system), a key technology for 5G communications networks. The station is installed for testing in the Kyivstar network in the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI).
The company explained that this base station uses a built-in antenna with 32 transceivers, which operate simultaneously, which allows generating multiple digital streams and multiplying the capacity of the base station.
Kyivstar noted that in March 2019 its subscribers used more mobile Internet (45 Petabytes) than in the whole of 2016, and in the period from 2015 to 2018 the volume of data traffic in the Kyivstar network increased by 1,500%
Kyivstar, the largest mobile communications operator in Ukraine, in a year after receiving the 4G license has built LTE network covering 4,587 localities where 58% of the Ukrainian population, the company reported on Wednesday. “Now Kyivstar has more than 24,700 towers. They provide 3G connection for 81% of the population and 4G connection for 58%,” the company said in a press release.
According to Kyivstar, the development of 3G and 4G communications in Ukraine cost Kyivstar UAH 22.5 billion in 2015-2018, of which UAH 7 billion was paid for licenses for new communication technologies, UAH 3.5 billion for using frequencies, and UAH 12 billion was invested in the construction of communication networks.
“In 2019, we intend to increase investment in the development of 4G, so that as many Ukrainians as possible get access to new communication technologies,” the press service said, citing Kyivstar President Alexander Komarov without specifying other details.
The company said that the rapid expansion of the 3G and 4G network made it possible to boost the volume of Internet traffic: over the year, data traffic grew by 300%. According to the press release, in March 2019, 46 petabytes were used in the Kyivstar network (of which 43% in the 4G network) – the same as in the entire 2016.
According to the company, in a 4G network, a subscriber uses an average of 5.6 GB of mobile Internet per month, while in a 3G network – 3.8 GB, and 70% of business clients in a 4G network upload data to cloud storage.
Kyivstar said that subscribers use 4G in locations where fixed-line Internet is not available or its speed is low. For example, in a number of villages in Kherson region, the average usage of 4G per subscriber is 75 GB per month, in Lviv region – 56 GB, and in Zaporizhia region – 50 GB. For comparison: in large cities, the average consumption of data traffic in a 4G network: Uzhgorod – 12 GB per subscriber; Kherson – 10.59 GB, Dnipro – 6.64 GB, Kyiv – 6.25 GB, and Odesa – 6.19 GB.
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).
