Business news from Ukraine

LEADING UKRAINIAN MOBILE OPERATOR KYIVSTAR SEEKS TO BUY TWO OUT OF THREE ADDITIONAL LOTS AT 4G AUCTION FOR 1800 MHZ SPECTRUM

23 February , 2018  

The leading Ukrainian mobile communications operator Kyivstar plans to buy two out of three additional lots at the 4G auction for the 1800 MHz frequencies spectrum, Kyivstar President Peter Chernyshov has said.
“We plan to buy two out of three lots 5 MHz each. We have enough money for this,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.
Chernyshov also said that the tender for issuing 4G licenses for the 1800 MHz spectrum is expected to take place on March 6.
As reported, in December 2017, the National Commission for Communications and Informatization Regulation (NCCR) officially published an announcement about a tender to sell radio frequency licenses to introduce radio technology “International Mobile Telecommunications IMT” (4G, LTE, or Long Term Evolution) in the radio frequency bands 1710-1785 MHz, 1805-1880 MHz.
The tender is conducted consistently on six lots in the following order of radio frequency bands in all regions of Ukraine: lot No. 1 with 1710-1725/1805-1820 MHz, lot No. 2 with 1725-1750/1820-1845 MHz, lot No. 3 with 1750-1770/1845-1865 MHz, lot No. 4 with 1770-1775/1865-1870 MHz, lot No. 5 with 1780-1785/1875-1880 MHz, and lot No. 6 with 775-1780/1870-1875 MHz.
The minimum payment for each lot (without taking into account the cost of conversion of the radio frequency resources of Ukraine) is as follows: UAH 795 million for lot No. 1, UAH 1.325 billion for lot No. 2, UAH 1.060 billion for lot No. 3, UAH 265 million for lot No. 4, UAH 265 million for lot No. 5, and UAH 265 million for lot No. 6.
The cost of conversion is UAH 940.259 million.
The validity of licenses is 15 years.
The “big three” of Ukrainian mobile operators on February 7 paid UAH 2.456 billion for 80 MHz in the 2600 MHz band for the right to deploy 4G communication on them: lifecell purchased two lots totaling 30 MHz for UAH 909.25 million, Kyivstar three lots totaling 30 MHz for UAH 916.3 million, while Vodafone-Ukraine two lots for a total of 20 MHz for UAH 631 million.