The National Commission for the State Regulation of Electronic Communications, Radio Spectrum, and Postal Services (NCC) is proposing to introduce a regulatory levy of no more than 1.5% of telecom operators’ total revenue.
“This funding model will reduce expenditures in Ukraine’s state budget and cover the NCC’s funding needs, which will amount to UAH 401.1 million in 2027,” the regulator noted in an explanatory memorandum to the draft law it developed.
According to NCC data for 2025, 508 business entities would be required to pay the relevant fees. It is expected that the number of such entities will increase to 580 in 2027 and to 696 in 2028.
The NERC clarified that the financial and economic projections for 2027 and 2028 include the implementation of EU Regulation 2024/1309 (Gigabit Infrastructure Act/GIA). Among other things, it provides for the creation of a tool for consumers—a comparison of provider prices—and the implementation of a universal service—access to communications for all, even in the most remote regions—as well as the construction and restoration of digital infrastructure in de-occupied and border territories.
The state regulator noted that in most European Union countries, national regulatory bodies in the field of electronic communications are funded through contributions from providers of electronic communications networks and services.
At the same time, the Internet Association of Ukraine (InAU) spoke out against this bill on Facebook.
“Its provisions are not only unfair and discriminatory but also do not align with the norms of the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), and in a number of provisions, they directly contradict it. To substantiate this, we note the following,” the statement to the regulator reads.
The association hopes that the regulator will take this position into account; if the relevant comments are ignored, InaU will appeal to state and European institutions.
The mobile operator Vodafone Ukraine plans to acquire more than 50% of the shares of the telecom operator Vega (PrJSC Farlep-Invest).
A source in the relevant field told Interfax-Ukraine that the relevant documents are already being considered by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU).
Vodafone Ukraine does not comment on the deal.
Vega also declined to make comments.
Vega, a large Ukrainian telecoms operator, in 2018 received UAH 641.3 million of net income, which is 3.79% more than in 2017, the company has reported.
According to the operator’s press release, EBITDA reached UAH 164.9 million, which is 49% more than last year. Also, in 2018, the company managed to increase ARPU (the average revenue per user) by 20%, in particular, Internet access services using the FTTx connection technology by 28%.
During the reporting period, the subscriber base of Vega, as compared with 2017, increased in Voice VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) by more than 10%.
“Last year, we strictly followed the given strategic vector associated with the transition to modern services. This year, the company will continue to actively modernize its networks: replacing copper with optics, and digitizing its business, introducing new services based on digital technologies,” Vega CEO Murat Chynar said.
In 2018, the company’s capital investments remained at the level of 2017 and amounted to UAH 97.4 million.
