“Ukrtelecom, Ukraine’s largest fixed-line operator, posted an EBITDA profit of more than UAH 700 million in January-June 2023, while its EBITDA margin rose to 27.8%, the company said on Friday.
“Even in the difficult conditions of operating during a full-scale war, Ukrtelecom demonstrates a stable high level of operational efficiency… Based on its results in the first half of the year, Ukrtelecom generated total revenue of more than UAH 2.5 billion,” the telecom operator said in a press release.
A full quarterly report is not yet available, but for the first half of 2022 Ukrtelecom reported an EBITDA margin of 24.3%, which, given the reported total revenue of UAH 2.9 billion, allows the company to estimate EBITDA for that period at UAH 705 million and talk about maintaining this figure in the first half of 2023, despite a decline in total revenue by about 14%.
In the first half of pre-war 2021, the company generated UAH 3.4 billion in total revenue (up 10%), its EBITDA amounted to UAH 1.1 billion (+29%), and its EBITDA margin was 31.3% (+4.5 percentage points).
The press release notes that Ukrtelecom continues to operate, providing access to Internet services at 88% of the number of settlements covered by the operator’s network prior to the full-scale Russian invasion. At the same time, the number of optical Internet subscribers increased by 10% year-on-year to 320,000.
“In the conditions of martial law, the company continues to meet the demand for optical internet connection, accordingly the subscriber base of users connected via optics is increasing,” it said.
In 2023, Ukrtelecom has already built 2.023 thousand km of fiber-optic lines. 80 medical and 82 educational institutions and almost 20 business objects are connected to high-speed optical Internet. In general, as of the beginning of July, more than 1.7 thousand educational and 1.28 thousand medical institutions, as well as 550 territorial communities have fiber optics from Ukrtelecom.
“Despite the difficult economic conditions, Ukrtelecom continues to effectively dispose of the property that is released due to the modernization of technological infrastructure,” the company stressed.
Revenues for the first half of the year from commercial lease of property amounted to UAH 230 million, the statement said.
According to preliminary data, the direct losses of the company from the buildings destroyed in the occupation troops of the Russian Federation, lost equipment, telecom networks and other assets in the temporarily occupied territories amount to about 700 million UAH, and in general, the total devastating consequences of Russian aggression for “Ukrtelecom” are estimated at 2.8 billion UAH, which is mainly due to the economic depreciation of operating assets.
“During the full-scale war, the company lost a number of real estate in temporarily occupied settlements, quite a few buildings are damaged and destroyed by the enemy,” Ukrtelecom pointed out.
The company also reports on reorganization, within the framework of which, in order to increase the efficiency of telecom business, generation of new opportunities for its development, as well as consolidation of responsibility for telecom revenues, a commercial directorate was created, which united the directions of development of corporate and mass segments and inter-operator telecom business.
“The company is implementing new important projects and decisions regarding business improvement and development… The reorganization will unify and increase the efficiency of business processes, introduce new interesting products, as well as methods of sales organization and customer service,” the release said.
It is also said that Ukrtelecom fulfills its obligations to the state, having paid over UAH 750 mln of taxes to budgets of all levels in January-June 2023.
In addition, the company implemented another project on large-scale assistance to the AFU – more than 20 units of the Defense Forces were provided with almost 2.5 thousand special hardware and software. During the full-scale war, the company sent dozens of UAVs, including Valkyrie and Leleka unmanned aerial systems, to the defenders as part of the Steel Front initiative of businessman Rinat Akhmetov. About 65 million hryvnias of financial aid has already been directed to the needs of the defenders, more than 230 cars from the corporate fleet have been handed over.
More than 370 employees of Ukrtelecom are defending the Ukrainian soil in the ranks of the AFU.
Ukrtelecom, Ukraine’s largest fixed-line operator, has launched the UKRTELECOM_FREE network in Kiev, Dnipro, Lviv, Odessa and Kharkiv, consisting of 700 free public Wi-Fi zones that will provide Internet access for two to four hours in case of power outage.
“We (Ukrtelecom) launched free Wi-Fi in five cities of Ukraine, so far in test mode. On the streets of Kiev, Dnipro, Lviv, Odessa and Kharkiv now work our free Wi-Fi (about 700 cabinets in total),” wrote Natalia Emchenko, director of communications at System Capital Management in Facebook.
Emchenko published a map, on which you can find addresses of free Wi-Fi zones from “Ukrtelecom”, noting that you can find out the points by a special sticker on the cabinets Free Wi-Fi.
PR-director of “Ukrtelecom” Lena Shramko specified in Facebook, that the speed of free Internet, distributed in zones, is up to 20 Mbit / s and may decrease as the number of users using the service at the same time increases. The radius of use of Wi-Fi – up to 10 meters.
Earlier Ukrtelecom CEO Yuri Kurmaz in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine said that the company will launch a network of free public areas in five cities where the upgraded infrastructure and installed active street cabinets (MSAN – Multi-Service Access Node – a device that connects subscriber lines to the core network).
“Ukrtelecom is the largest fixed-line operator in Ukraine. Most of its customers are state bodies, educational, administrative and medical institutions, emergency services.
Revenue “Ukrtelecom” for the first nine months of 2022 amounted to 3 billion 349.96 million UAH, which is 15.7% less than during the same period in 2021. The net loss was UAH 755.18 mln against net profit of UAH 360.03 mln for 9 months of 2021.
The EBITDA of Ukrtelecom JSC in January-September 2022 decreased by 39% compared to the same period in 2021, to UAH 975 million, the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the press release, due to the loss of control over part of the telecom infrastructure and the termination of the provision of services in the temporarily occupied territories, the company’s total income for nine months decreased by almost 17% compared to the same period last year and amounted to almost UAH 4.2 billion.
“The fall in EBITDA was due to the significant impact of the write-off of assets (losses) in the temporarily occupied territories, the formation of a reserve, as well as receivables arising from an increase in the number of overdue payments from customers. In addition, some of the company’s subscribers left the country. Also significant funds were aimed at helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine and humanitarian aid,” the operator commented on the results for January-September.
At the same time, the company continues to pay taxes on land and real estate, including in the temporarily occupied territories.
Ukrtelecom also noted that until February 24, all the company’s indicators showed steady growth, but the full-scale war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine changed everything.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale war between Ukraine and the Russian aggressor, Ukrtelecom has been working to restore services 24/7, ensuring their availability at the level of 87% of the settlements covered by the operator’s network. Assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the arrangement of Wi-Fi in school shelters are the main directions of the system the company’s social responsibility program during the war,” the press service of Ukrtelecom emphasizes.
According to the company, one of the strategic directions of Ukrtelecom’s network modernization was, as before, the optimization of the use of technological energy resources. Thus, over the past three years, electricity costs have decreased by 41%: from 155 million kWh in 2018 to 92 million kWh in 2021. At the same time, the company continues to implement a long-term energy efficiency program in wartime, which will contribute to the strength of Ukraine’s energy system, according to a press release.
“In recent months, the terrorist state has massively attacked the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, which causes direct damage to communication systems. The margin of safety of the Ukrtelecom network is currently provided by autonomous power generators, which are equipped with the operator’s most important Internet nodes, as well as sufficient (at least daily norms) fuel supply. The company’s daily investment in the stability of communication services is up to 14 thousand liters of diesel fuel with a critical load on the power grid and emergency shutdowns,” the statement said.
Despite the full-scale war, Ukrtelecom continues to implement projects to connect users to optics – in 2022, about 5 thousand km of fiber optic lines have already been built, and the optical Internet user base has grown by 33% compared to September last year and amounted to more 300 thousand subscribers in the mass and business segments.
About 200 medical and educational institutions were connected to high-speed optical Internet, more than 60 of them in the third quarter. In general, as of the beginning of October, optics from Ukrtelecom are used in more than 1.7 thousand educational and almost 1.3 thousand medical institutions.
In addition, Ukrtelecom completely modernized the telecommunications infrastructure in Dnipro, replacing copper cables with optical ones, and all operator services are now provided exclusively using the NGN (next generation network) multiservice telecom network of the new generation. Subscribers in Dnipro, switched to the FTTx optical architecture, have Internet speeds up to 1 Gbps.
Also, the implementation of a similar large-scale project to transfer subscribers to the modern NGN telecommunications infrastructure in Odessa is nearing completion.
Ukrtelecom emphasizes that it is still efficiently managing the property freed up due to the modernization of the technological infrastructure. Commercial rental income for three quarters of this year exceeded UAH 273 million, while they are almost 15% less than a year ago, which is due, among other things, to the loss of a number of properties in temporarily occupied settlements and destruction as a result of rocket attacks.
The operator notes that during the full-scale war he suffered considerable losses. A preliminary estimate of the cost of destroyed and damaged buildings, lost equipment, telecommunications networks and other assets in the temporarily occupied territories is almost UAH 650 million.
For nine months. In 2022, Ukrtelecom paid UAH 1.12 billion in taxes to the budgets of all levels, allocated about UAH 50 million in financial assistance for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and also transferred more than 170 corporate vehicles to the army.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukrtelecom has acquired and donated almost 3,000 tactical first-aid kits, 4,000 medical tourniquets, 2,000 hemostatic bandages and dressings, hundreds of walkie-talkies, dozens of stretchers, generators and many other necessary things and equipment for the needs of our defenders . In the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, about 350 employees of the company protect Ukraine, according to a press release.
As reported, Ukrtelecom ordered the production of a significant number of Valkyrie unmanned aerial systems (UAC) and has already handed over the first three of them to the Ukrainian military. According to open data, the cost of one such complex is about $18.1 thousand.
JSC Ukrtelecom plans to provide free Wi-Fi access to the Internet in the shelters of more than 400 schools in Ukraine, the company’s press service reported on Friday.
“Ukrtelecom received applications from 398 schools. The operator received most of them directly, in contact with the administration of educational institutions using its services, the other part came as part of a government initiative to create safe and comfortable learning conditions for schoolchildren – the all-Ukrainian initiative “Wi-Fi in shelters,” the company said.
According to the release, the largest number of applications came from the Chernihiv and Khmelnytsky regions and Kyiv.
In addition, the initiative was supported by about 30 companies – partners of Ukrtelecom in the development of optical networks. Their specialists perform connection work using the equipment and resources of Ukrtelecom.
As of August 25, 60 school shelters have already been equipped with Wi-Fi from Ukrtelecom. The company expects as part of the implementation of connecting shelters in more than 400 schools.
On August 16, the Minister of Education and Science, Serhiy Shkarlet, announced that 2,736 schools need high-speed Internet in shelters, and 558 schools already have Wi-Fi in shelters.
Mobile operators and providers continue to provide access to communication services as of 13:00 on April 2, 2022, according to a message in the telegram channel of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine.
The situation with the coverage of mobile operators on the territory of Ukraine over the previous day has not undergone significant changes. The most problematic regions are Donetsk, Kyiv, Chernihiv regions.
At the same time, the operators began work to restore communications in the settlements of the Kiev region, liberated from the invaders.
“Despite all the difficulties and the destruction of infrastructure by the enemy, operators continue to provide mobile communications and Internet services. However, in order for companies to continue to work stably, ensure the functioning of networks and the provision of services, we remind all Ukrainians of the importance of paying for services,” the department noted.
Also, according to the State Service for Special Communications, on April 1, Ukrtelecom specialists restored damaged trunk lines and services in Odessa, Kherson and Nikolaev regions.
“Currently, the services of the company (Ukrtelecom – IF) are provided in all regions, except for the Luhansk region. The search for opportunities to resume telecommunications services continues,” the report says.
Internet providers in Ukraine recorded 128 cases of network damage or equipment unavailability per day.
Ukrainian television continues to go on the air in the vast majority of non-occupied territories. The Concern for Radio Broadcasting of Radio Communications and Television, which belongs to the management of the State Special Communications Service, maintains the operation of the relevant infrastructure so that Ukrainians can receive truthful information. Satellite broadcasting works stably.
The National Center for Operational and Technical Management of Telecommunications Networks (NTsU) under the State Special Communications Service provides full control of networks in war conditions.
Mobile operators and Ukrtelecom agree to provide communication to Ukrainians, even if there are no funds on their accounts.
“We are doing everything possible to keep everyone in touch even with a zero balance,” the press service of Vodafone Ukraine said in a commentary to Interfax-Ukraine.
Ukrtelecom reported that the decision not to disconnect subscribers for non-payment, as well as subscribers with a zero balance from the provision of services, was made by the operator this morning.
“Now we have more than 50,000 Internet service clients in dynamics, who could be affected by disconnection for non-payment. But we decided not to disconnect our subscribers,” Mykhailo Shuranov, director of corporate communications at Ukrtelecom, told the agency.
The lifecell press service also stated that they are ready to support their subscribers.
“In order for our subscribers to be able to contact their relatives and friends at any time, lifecell charges all its users a package of services at no additional charge. It contains 30 minutes for calls to any number in Ukraine and 5 GB of mobile internet. It can be used for 30 days,” the operator’s press service told the agency.
Therefore, the priority of lifecell is the continuity in the provision of mobile services.
As of 13:35 Thursday, the operator’s mobile network is operating normally. However, the operator warns that in conditions where millions of people simultaneously make calls, from time to time the connection may not occur the first time.
Kyivstar reported that calls in the operator’s network will be available to all subscribers of the subscription even without a paid package of services according to their tariff.
Kyivstar also abolishes the commission within the Extra Money service, thanks to which you can order additional funds to your account and return them later.
For subscribers of contract and corporate forms of service: the operator doubles the credit limits in their tariffs for up to two months. Subscribers who do not have the service of credit limits connected can order microcredit. For users of fixed services (Internet, telephony and data transmission), Kyivstar extends the bill payment term by 30 days.
In addition, Kyivstar will provide the Home Internet service free of charge: all customers whose service was disabled due to lack of funds on their account can use it again.
As previously reported, the National Center for Operational and Technical Management of Telecommunications Networks of the State Service for Special Communications addressed operators with a recommendation not to disconnect from mobile communications and access to the Internet subscribers who do not have enough funds on their account or have a debt.
