The State Agency of Ukraine for the Management of the Exclusion Zone and the mobile operator Vodafone Ukraine are working on a pilot project for the construction of a fire safety monitoring system on the territory of the Exclusion Zone in Chornobyl.
According to the message of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine posted on its website on Monday, the first step of the project was to expand the coverage of Chornobyl with high-speed mobile Internet 4G in the 900 MHz range and install a base station there.
The next stage will be testing the operation of thermal imagers, which will be installed at a height and cover a significant area. The new system will quickly identify the place of fire using video cameras and thermal imagers.
“Modern technologies open up ample opportunities for instant detection of fires in forest areas. Thanks to cooperation with Vodafone Ukraine, NB-IoT technology will start operating in Chornobyl, which is built on the concept of the ‘Internet of Things’ and allows safe and fast transfer of information between objects. And it, in turn, makes it possible to instantly respond to fire situations and localize them,” Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Roman Abramovsky is quoted as saying.
He also stressed that effective prevention of fires directly depends on technical equipment and the use of smart technologies.
At the same time, Abramovsky noted that the expansion of mobile coverage will contribute to the development of investment and tourist attractiveness of the Chornobyl zone.
“This is the first such solution in Ukraine, which Vodafone Ukraine develops and implements exclusively for the Chornobyl exclusion zone. In the future, it can be scaled to other fire hazardous areas of Ukraine,” said Andriy Bolshakov, deputy director general of Vodafone Ukraine.
According to Vodafone Ukraine, NB-IoT technology provides a high security standard – encryption and authentication based on a SIM card, which are not available in other technologies. In addition, it optimizes power consumption, extending the battery life of the components up to 10 years. Moreover, the capacity of such a network is significantly higher than that of a voice network.
As reported, high-speed mobile Internet from Vodafone Ukraine appeared in the Chornobyl exclusion zone in 2016 after the launch of the base station of the 3G network in Prypyat. The rollout of the operator’s 4G network began in the Chornobyl exclusion zone in November 2018.
In July-September 2020, the mobile network operator Vodafone Ukraine saw revenue of UAH 4.8 billion, which is 12% more than in the same period in 2019.
According to the operator’s financial report, its net profit in the third quarter of this year amounted to UAH 157 million, which is 81% less than in the same period in 2019.
The operator explained this indicator by the exchange rate difference on the revaluation of the $500 million eurobonds, issued by the company in February 2020.
OIBDA increased by 11% and reached UAH 2.5 billion, the OIBDA margin decreased slightly – by 1.2 percentage points, to 53.4%. According to the operator, the operating efficiency indicators were improved due to cost optimization and increased revenue from data services.
The volume of Internet traffic in the Vodafone network has almost doubled over the past two years. This figure has increased by more than 40% over the year. The main reasons for the growth in speed and traffic are: an increase in 4G coverage, network capacity and the number of data users, the company said.
At the same time, at the end of the third quarter of 2020, ARPU grew by 16%, to UAH 79.10. The growth of the indicator in the company is linked to an increase in the geography of 4G coverage, as well as an increase in the use of high-speed mobile Internet, the consumption of which increased 1.4 times over the past year.
On average, according to the operator, the Vodafone Ukraine data client uses more than 5 GB of mobile Internet per month.
According to the operator’s report, Vodafone Ukraine’s 4G network became available to 80% of Ukrainians in the third quarter (penetration growth by 14 p.p. compared to the third quarter of 2019).
Vodafone Ukraine invested UAH 871 million in the network during the reporting period, and total investments in the construction of high-speed mobile Internet networks amounted to UAH 28.1 billion.
In July-September, the operator launched over 400 base stations in the 900 MHz range, which cover more than 2,000 settlements with a population of over 2 million people.
According to the results of the third quarter of 2020, the company’s subscriber base amounted to 19 million people, which is 4.1% less than in the same period last year. This is due to a decrease in the dynamics of new connections as a result of quarantine measures.
At the same time, the operator noted an increase in the segment of contract and corporate connections, as well as an increase in the number of connected IoT cards.
The base of IoT connections of Vodafone Ukraine” in two years has grown by 79%.
Other new directions, such as big data analytics, cloud solutions, services for electronic document management, also showed positive dynamics, according to the operator.
In the first nine months of this year, the company’s profit amounted to UAH 425 million, revenue reached UAH 13.3 billion.
The mobile operator Vodafone Ukraine has signed a memorandum with PrJSC Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company (UDP) on the use of IoT solutions in the field of cross-border river transport.
In particular, the company will introduce online monitoring of the movement of ships, provision of communication facilities on the territory of Ukraine and abroad, as well as tracking the content of cargo.
“We also agreed to use the capabilities of Big Data analytics for the subsequent creation of systems for predicting efficiency and preventing losses. We hope that cooperation with UDP will be successful and become an example of how digital technologies can be used to increase the success of an enterprise,” said deputy Director General of Vodafone Ukraine Andriy Bolshakov during the signing of the document.
Vodafone Ukraine mobile operator has launched LTE-communications (4G) in the 900 MHz band in 128 settlements of Cherkasy region, thus providing high-speed Internet for almost 110,000 people.
According to company’s press service, in particular, the operator has launched 4G coverage in the 900 MHz band in more than 1,700 settlements of Kyiv, Odesa, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, Volyn, Chernivtsi and Cherkasy regions, thus giving access to services for more than one million people.
By the end of 2020, the operator plans to launch the LTE network in the 900 MHz band in all regions of Ukraine: in turn from west to east.
As reported, according to the license terms, by mid-2022 the operators should provide mobile high-speed Internet coverage in settlements with population over 2,000 people, covering 90% of the population of Ukraine. 4G coverage for roads of international and national importance is to be provided until the middle of 2024.
PJSC MTS signed a legally binding agreement with Telco Solutions and Investments LLC, being under control of Azerbaijan’s Bakcell telecom company, which in turn is incorporated in NEQSOL Holding, on the sale of MTS business in Ukraine.
The shareholders of the Russian company will have special dividends following the transaction.
“With the acquisition of Vodafone Ukraine, the second telecommunications operator in the Ukrainian market, we continue the strategy of expanding the international presence and entering the new markets by the companies belonging to the NEQSOL Holding group. The telecommunications industry is among the priority areas of our group’s work, therefore we constantly invest in innovative and reliable telecommunication solutions,” NEQSOL said in a report, citing CEO of NEQSOL Holding Yusif Jabbarov as saying.
He said that the state of the business, the growth pace and the effectiveness of Vodafone Ukraine are a reliable basis for further development, because NEQSOL holding is ready to invest in a new asset in order to continue introducing innovations and advanced technologies in Ukraine.
According to the statement of NEQSOL, under the agreement, MTS through its fully-owned subsidiary Allegretto Holding S.a.r.l. (Luxembourg) sells a 100% stake in Preludium B.V. (Netherlands), the sole shareholder of PrJSC VF Ukraine (the Vodafone Ukraine trademark), for $734 million, including deferred payment of about $84 million.
The purchase of a company in Ukraine is financed mainly from resources provided by international financial institutions.
“The change of ownership will not affect the operating activities of Vodafone Ukraine. The company will continue providing services under the Vodafone brand and meeting all obligations to employees, customers and partners,” the NEQSOL said.
The shares will be transferred soon.
“The company will continue providing services under the Vodafone brand. All tariff plans and services, as well as contracts and other obligations of the company are relevant and continue to be in effect,” Vodafone Ukraine’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
The mobile operator also confirmed the information that the change of ownership will not affect its operations, the provision of services to customers, interaction with partners, suppliers and contractors.
The group of the seller in a transaction to acquire Preludium B.V. (the Netherlands), through which MTS Group owns the second largest mobile communications operator in Ukraine, PrJSC VF Ukraine (Vodafone Ukraine), by Azerbaijan’s Bakcell telecom operator will terminate control over Preludium B.V.
According to the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) of October 24, 2019, published on the agency’s website on Tuesday, the parties to the transaction have already agreed on the obligations of the Luxembourg subsidiary of MTS Allegretto Holding Sarl to refrain from competing with Vodafone Ukraine for three years territory of Ukraine.
In addition, PJSC Mobile TeleSystems undertakes not to lure employees (unless otherwise agreed between the parties) and Vodafone Ukraine suppliers.
According to the document, at present Bakcell LLC does not carry out economic activities in Ukraine. He is controlled by an individual a citizen of Azerbaijan and business entities non-residents of Ukraine, forming the Bakcell group.
Bakcell, founded in 1994, is the mobile communications operator and a leading provider of mobile Internet in Azerbaijan. It operates in GSM, UMTS and LTE standards.
Bakcell network consists of more than 7,500 towers, covers 93% of the territory (excluding occupied territories) and 99% of the population of Azerbaijan. The company has more than 3 million subscribers.
According to the results of 2018, Vodafone Ukraine reduced its net profit by 18.1% compared to 2017, to UAH 1.8 billion. The company explained this figure as an increase in costs due to the active deployment of 4G and 3G networks.
Vodafone Ukraine is fully owned by Preludium B.V. It is part of the international MTS Group, which shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
