Mobile operator Kyivstar has increased its 4G (LTE) network coverage in all regions of Ukraine and connected 815 more settlements to new mobile technologies.
As the company’s press service said on Friday, for this the operator has activated the technology of high-speed data transmission (LTE) at 452 base stations.
Thus, in the southern regions of Ukraine, 4G coverage has been increased on the territory of 316 settlements, in Dnipropetrovsk region – 97, Donetsk and Luhansk regions – 81, in the western regions – in 238, and in the central regions – in 83 settlements.
The report said that in the first quarter of 2021, Kyivstar invested more than UAH 1 billion in the development of new communication technologies, which made it possible to significantly increase the coverage area of the 4G network.
As of the end of April 2021, Kyivstar has installed more than 15,500 base stations in Ukraine, on which LTE (4G) technology is activated. As a result, more than 87% of the Ukrainian population can use access to 4G services in the operator’s network.
The company continues to build new mobile networks so that 90% of the population will have access to 4G by 2022.
The Kyivstar mobile operator during April and May launched high-speed 4G Internet at 900 MHz in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kremenchuk, Kryvy Rih, Mariupol and Mykolaiv, the company said.
“The LTE900 project gave a significant impetus to expanding the network in small villages, where people did not have high-speed Internet before. Over the past year, residents of thousands of such settlements received 4G from Kyivstar, and we already see how quickly the use of the Internet there is growing, digital divide with cities is decreasing,” the director for planning and quality management of Kyivstar networks, Vasyl Pantov, said.
According to him, LTE900 has significant development potential for at least the next few years, primarily for launching 4G in remote, inaccessible villages and on highways, as well as for improving network performance where tens of thousands of customers are already using it at the same time.
The company notes that thanks to the use of 900 MHz frequencies in cities, Kyivstar has improved the quality of the signal indoors, since the advantage of this range is not only in a larger coverage radius, but also in the fact that the signal at low frequencies penetrates better through the walls of buildings, compared to signal at high frequencies.
“As statistics show, thanks to this innovation, 4G coverage inside buildings increased by 5-10 percentage points (p.p.), 4G traffic grew by an average of 7%, and the subscriber satisfaction index according to the survey results also improved by 1-2 percentage points.,” the company said.
Currently, Kyivstar’s 4G network operates in almost 15,000 cities and villages of Ukraine, where more than 87% of the country’s population live.
The mobile operator lifecell in May launched 4G mobile communications in 343 settlements in all regions of Ukraine.
According to the operator’s statement, in general, as of the end of May, 10,911 settlements were connected to the lifecell 4G network, where a total of more than 27.9 million people live.
In May, the lifecell network was expanded in 343 settlements, where 196,000 Ukrainians live. Of these, 339 with a population of up to 5,000 people, and four with up to 25,000 people.
“With the deployment of the network, the consumption of data traffic has also grown. Thus, lifecell subscribers who use 4G consumed 81% more mobile Internet traffic in May, compared to the same period in 2020,” the operator said.
As of the end of May 2021, the leaders in the use of lifecell mobile Internet were:
– up to 5,000 people – Baturyn (Chernihiv region);
– up to 25,000 people – Zdolbuniv (Rivne region);
– up to 50,000 people – Fastiv (Kyiv region);
– up to 100,000 people – Uman (Cherkasy region);
– up to 500,000 people – Vinnytsia;
– up to 1 million people – Zaporizhia.
In the category of cities with a population of more than 1 million people, the first place is occupied by Kyiv, followed by Odesa and Kharkiv.
Mobile network operator Kyivstar has increased its 4G (LTE) network coverage in 19 regions and connected 1,195 more settlements to new mobile technologies.
According to a Wednesday report of the press service of the company, for this the operator has launched the technology of high-speed data transmission at 202 base stations.
The press service said that 493,000 residents of small settlements received the opportunity of having access to high-speed mobile Internet.
The 4G communication is supported by 23,600 Kyivstar base stations, which makes it possible for more than 87% of the Ukrainian population to access new mobile technologies.
According to the operator’s plans, by 2022, access to 4G should be provided for 90% of the population.
In February, the mobile operator lifecell expanded the coverage of high-speed mobile Internet in another 1,078 settlements in all regions of Ukraine.
Last month the lifecell network was expanded in all regions of the country, in particular in 1,060 settlements with a population of up to 5,000 people, in 15 settlements with a population of up to 25,000 people and in three settlements, where up to 50,000 people live, the company said on Thursday.
Expansion of coverage will reduce the gap in access to digital services between small settlements and cities, lifecell notes.
According to the operator, customers using 4G from lifecell consumed 79% more mobile Internet traffic last month compared to the same period in 2020. At the same time, the total volume of used data traffic in the operator’s network in February increased by 43% on an annual basis.
In the category of cities with a population of more than 1 million people, the capital traditionally takes the first place, followed by Odesa and Kharkiv.
The mobile operator lifecell plans to connect another 148 settlements to the 4G network by the end of December, where more than 200,000 people live.
According to the operator’s statement on Thursday, in November 2020, high-speed Internet from lifecell appeared in 452 settlements throughout Ukraine.
“Among them, 80 settlements are unique, as until this year there was no 4G coverage from any mobile operator,” the company said.
At the same time, over the past six months, high-speed mobile communication 4G from lifecell has appeared in 1,250 settlements where more than 800,000 people live.
To improve communication, the operator installed 301 new base stations during 2020 and upgraded another 764 stations.
In general, in 2020, more than 1 million residents of different regions of Ukraine received access to high-speed mobile Internet from lifecell.
Now access to 3G and 4G communications from lifecell is already available to 75% of Ukrainian residents.
In 2021, the operator plans to actively work on further rollout of coverage, which will reduce the gap in access to digital services between small towns and cities.
