The mobile communications operator Kyivstar jointly with Doctor Online company will make consultations of doctors in the eponymous application free of charge for subscribers of all telecom operators.
The Kyivstar’s press service reported on Wednesday that users, regardless of location, will be able to consult with more than 40 qualified doctors and receive treatment recommendations using a chat, video or audio call 24/7 for free.
“Today, people around the world are forced to fight against new viruses and difficulties. Since it is now not recommended to go outside, use public transport and contact with a large number of people, we decided to facilitate the process of visiting a doctor so that one does not have to visit hospitals unless one has to. Our application will be useful to elderly people and families with small children, those who live outside the city or stay abroad,” the press service said, citing Kyivstar Chief Marketing Officer Pavlo Daniman.
According to the operator, a series of updates has also appeared in the Doctor Online application. In particular, now during a video or audio consultation the patient has the opportunity of sending files to the doctor (tests for interpretation, photos, previous appointments, etc.).
In addition, if the doctor recommends taking tests, the user can immediately sign up for a test in the laboratory in the application and pay with a bank card.
A history of past consultations and the ability to leave feedback on the work of a doctor are also added.
Kyivstar said that over 3,000 users have downloaded the Doctor Online application in three months. Family doctors and pediatricians lead among calls to doctors. During this time, patients most often treated with symptoms of acute respiratory viral diseases (ARVI), problems with pressure and laryngotracheitis.
The Doctor Online application is a telemedicine application developed by the eponymous company with the support of Kyivstar. In the application, users can: turn to a specialist for advice either via chat, or via video or audio call, receive an order to undergo screening to the Synevo partner laboratory, order drug delivery from a partner in the Liki24.com application, and also schedule the drug uptake in the calendar and at the right time the application will remind of the need for taking a drug.
The application is available for use by subscribers of all mobile operators. Megabytes for use will be charged according to the tariff plan.
Kyivstar said that all user personal data is protected. The Doctor Online adheres to the best world practices of interpretation, storage and protection of information. A secure chat-audio-video communication platform is used, which provides storage and non-disclosure of users’ personal data in accordance with the User Agreement and in accordance with legislation on the protection of personal data.
Kyivstar has connected another 514 Ukrainian settlements in 22 regions to the 4G network, the company has said.
The operator, in particular, extended communications to Bilozerske, Sviatohorsk, Ostrom (Donetsk region), Zolote (Luhansk region), as well as to hundreds of villages in the territory where more than 306,000 people live. 4G communications services in the Kyivstar network became available for more than 76% of the population of Ukraine.
According to the operator, in 2019 the volume of data traffic use increased by 54% compared to 2018, to 4,263 MB per subscriber. Moreover, more than 50% of all traffic was used in the 4G network.
As reported, Kyivstar in 2019 increased revenue by 19.6%, to UAH 22.392 billion, EBITDA by 39.4%, to UAH 14.683 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.
Kyivstar is the largest Ukrainian telecommunications operator. It provides communications and data transfer services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 3G. By the end of 2018, its services were used by about 26.4 million mobile subscribers and about 900,000 fixed Internet customers.
Ookla (the United States), the developer of Speedtest service, has said that Kyivstar mobile communication operator is Ukraine’s Speedtest Awards Winner for mobile network speed, according to the Ookla Speedtest report posted on the Speedtest website.
According to the report, in 2019, the company made over 3.15 million test counts for subscribers of all mobile operators. In particular, the total number of test counts in the Kyivstar network was 1.53 million with average download speed of 22.02 Mbps (17.94 Mbps in 2018) and average upload speed of 12.88 Mbps (8.99 Mbps).
Some 0.973 million test counts were made in the Vodafone Ukraine network with average download speed of 19.37 Mbps and average upload speed of 11.16 Mbps (14 Mbps and 6.63 Mbps in 2018), and in the lifecell network 0.583 million test counts were made with average download speed of 19.42 Mbps and average upload speed of 9.24 Mbps (16.64 Mbps and 6.69 Mbps).
According to Ookla, Kyivstar’s Speed Score was 20.31, lifcell’s – 17.77 and Vodafone Ukraine’s – 17.93. Speed Score incorporates a measure of each provider’s download and upload speed to rank network speed performance.
A total of 566,300 unique devices launched the Speedtest application in Ukraine, including iPhone 7 (27,600 test counts), Redmi Note 5 Pro (25,700 test counts), Redmi Note 4 (20,700 test counts), iPhone 6s (20,500 test counts), and iPhone X (18,100 test counts).
At the same time, in Kharkiv, according to Ookla, the speed of mobile Internet is on average higher than in Kyiv. So, Kyivstar’s Speed Score in this city was 25.08, while in Kyiv it was 19.79. Speed Score of lifecell in Kharkiv was 22.17, and in Kyiv was 18.06.
At the same time, the Speed Score of Vodafone Ukraine in Kharkiv was 16.87, while in Kyiv it was 18.88.
The subscribers of Kyivstar mobile operator in 2019 used twice as much mobile Internet in roaming as in 2018, the company has said.
On average, one subscriber used abroad 550 megabytes and 16 minutes for calls in roaming.
In general, the number of Kyivstar subscribers who used roaming last year, according to the operator, grew by 18% compared to a year earlier.
The ranking of countries popular among Ukrainian tourists was led by Poland, followed by Turkey, Germany, Italy, and Egypt.
“Some 65% of all Kyivstar travelling subscribers visited the European Union,” the company said.
In 2019, the operator worked on expanding 4G Internet in roaming for its customers: high-speed 4G mobile Internet from Kyivstar can be used in 61 countries of the world, including all popular tourist destinations.
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).
