The net income of JSC Kyivstar in 2019 amounted to UAH 22.392 billion, which is 19.6% more than in 2018.
According to the company, the operator’s income from provision of mobile services increased by 20%, to UAH 20.903 billion, from provision of fixed-line services by 11%, to UAH 1.35 billion.
In addition, last year’s EBITDA rose by 39.4%, to UAH 14.683 billion, while EBITDA margin by 9.3 percentage points, to 65.6%.
Kyivstar capital expenditures for the year increased by 64.8% and amounted to UAH 5.111 billion.
The number of mobile operator subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased by 0.6% compared to the same period in 2018, to 26.2 million, while the number of fixed-line subscribers increased by 10.8%, to 1 million.
The decrease in the number of subscribers in the company is explained by the general market trend of consumer refusal from several SIM cards of various operators.
According to Kyivstar, in the fourth quarter of 2019 the number of mobile Internet users reached 16.9 million, which is 14.6% more than in the same period earlier.
Data traffic consumption increased from 2,753 Mb to 4,263 Mb per subscriber.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, the operator’s revenue increased by 16.1%, to UAH 5.815 billion. Of these, UAH 5.417 billion was income from mobile services (16% up), UAH 355 million was income from fixed-line services (more by 14%). EBITDA for this period increased by 44.3%, to UAH 4.031 billion, margin increased by 13.6 percentage points, to 69.3%.
Kyivstar, a mobile operator, has released a universal Smart SIM starter kit without a tariff plan, which can be used, inter alia, for self-changing a SIM card, the operator’s press service has said.
Smart SIM can be used to connect the SIM for Devices tariff plan, to activate the SIM for Tablet service, as well as to independently replace the SIM card.
The SIM for Devices tariff plan allows using the services of the mobile operator in smart devices: alarms, GPS trackers, sensors, smart watches and the like. Every day, subscribers will receive 30 MB of mobile Internet, 30 minutes for calls and 30 SMS messages for their use in IoT devices.
The SIM for Tablet service allows using another SIM card for the Internet in the tablet, the second smartphone or modem, having one number and account for the primary and secondary cards.
In addition, in order to simplify the process of SIM card recovery, Kyivstar canceled payment for the Self-Swop of SIM service.
Earlier, Kyivstar launched the Calls for Parents tariff plan for older subscribers.
Kyivstar is a Ukrainian telecommunications operator. It provides communications and data transfer services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 3G. The shareholder of Kyivstar is VEON international group (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.). The shares of the group are listed on NASDAQ (New York).
Kyivstar mobile communications operator has connected 68 more settlements in Zaporizhia, Poltava, Ivano-Frankivsk and Luhansk regions to the 4G communication network, the operator has reported.
In Zaporizhia region, the cities of Energodar and Dniprorudne were connected to the high-speed data network, in Poltava region – Hlobyne, in Ivano-Frankivsk – the city of Burshtyn, and in Luhansk – Popasna. In addition to these cities, 4G communications from Kyivstar began to work in dozens of surrounding villages.
As of the end of December, the operator’s high-speed mobile Internet with 4G technology is already available for more than 74% of the population of Ukraine.
To provide the population of Ukraine with access to new communication technologies, Kyivstar has installed more than 8,000 towers that support the 4G standard, and more than 8 million subscribers have already been able to use such communication services.
In November 2019, subscribers in the Kyivstar network used 45% more traffic data than for the entire 2016.
Kyivstar is the largest Ukrainian mobile operator. It provides communication and data transfer services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed line technologies, including 4G. As of the end of 2018, its services were used by about 26.4 million mobile subscribers and about 0.9 million fixed line Internet customers.
VEON Group fully owns Kyivstar. The groups’ shares are NASDAQ-listed.
The Kyivstar mobile communication operator launches the service to pay for the 838 taxi service using SMS messages, the press service of the company reported on Thursday. According to the press release, the service is available to all Kyivstar prepaid subscribers in 15 cities of Ukraine where the 838 taxi service operates.
The payment is settled using the Kyivstar’s Smart-Money financial service. To do this, when ordering, one need to specify the Smart-Money payment method from Kyivstar or download the Taxi 838 application in the App Store or Google Play and select the appropriate form of payment. At the same time, one does not need to enter information about a credit card. It is enough for the subscriber to have the necessary amount on his mobile account. “The service is simple, safe and does not require a passenger to enter personal data,” the press service said, quoting Head of Kyivstar’s Mobile Financial Services Serhiy Koptik.
According to the operator’s estimates, more than 150,000 subscribers can potentially use the application. This is exactly the number of Kyivstar customers who have called the 838 taxi service over the past few months, although less than 17% of passengers used credit card payments. “This suggests that Ukrainians are still afraid of leaving information about their credit cards in applications,” Koptik said.
The operator said that more than 2,500 active services were posted on the Smart-Money platform, and more than 10 million transactions with it were implemented. The most popular services are payment for telecommunication services, national lotteries, online purchases, and public transport fares.
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 mobile operator starting from October 1, 2019 launches four tariff plans for new customers within the Kyivstar All Together line.
According to the company’s press service, all new tariff plans include home Internet with a speed of 100 Mbps, unlimited calls within the Kyivstar network and unlimited non-tariff Internet for using 42 applications. Among them are Google Maps, Snapchat, Pinterest, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, Netflix, as well as the online games Minecraft, World of Tanks BLITZ, the Steam service, etc.
The new Kyivstar All Together Basic tariff, in particular, provides subscribers with 120 minutes to the numbers of other telecom operators, as well as 12GB of mobile Internet.
Within the Kyivstar All Together Favorable tariff, subscribers will have unlimited mobile Internet and 180 minutes for calls to other mobile operators and abroad, as well as 180 SMS for sending within Ukraine.
The Kyivstar All Together Generous tariff includes unlimited mobile Internet and 300 minutes for calls to other mobile numbers in Ukraine and abroad.
The Kyivstar All Together Gaming tariff is designed for fans of the World of Tanks online game. It has additional gaming advantages. In addition, this package includes 300 minutes for calls to other mobile operators in Ukraine and abroad, as well as 300 SMS within Ukraine.