Business news from Ukraine

KYIVSTAR EXPANDS 4G COVERAGE

Mobile network operator Kyivstar has increased its 4G coverage in Zaporizhia and Kherson regions; the high-speed mobile coverage area includes 155 more settlements, where 76,000 people live.
The press service of the operator said on Monday that in particular, in Zaporizhia region, the territory of access to 4G Internet expanded by 42 settlements, in Kherson – by 113.
Kyivstar began to provide high-speed mobile Internet services at 900 MHz in the villages of Andriyivka, Davydivka, Mykolayivka, Mostove, Novoprokopivka, Rozivka, and Semenivka (Zaporizhia region), Brylivka, Vysoke, Davydiv Brid, Dolmativka, Kostohryzove, Mykhailivka, Novodmytrivka, Rozdolne, Sirohozy, Stara Mayachka, and Tiahynka (Kherson region).
In order to improve 4G coverage in these settlements, 27 base stations in the LTE 900 band have been installed.
Currently, the total number of mobile base stations of the company exceeds 38,000.
According to the company, Kyivstar has already provided access to 4G for almost 85% of the Ukrainian population. In the first nine months of 2020, more than UAH 4 billion has been invested in the development of new mobile communication technologies.

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KYIVSTAR EXTENDS 4G COVERAGE

The mobile network operator Kyivstar has launched 4G communication in 235 settlements in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions.
According to the press service of the operator reporting on Friday, 4G mobile communication appeared in the settlements of Biliaivka, Volokhiv Yar, Hubarivka, Dvorichne, Sakhnovschyna, Starovirivka (Kharkiv region), Vasylivka, Vodiane, Zlatoustivka, Myroliubivka, Novokalynivka, Novooleksandrivka, Pavlopillia (Kharkiv region), etc.
“To improve 4G coverage in these settlements, Kyivstar has installed 27 base stations at LTE 900 frequencies. As a result, another 72,000 people have the opportunity to use mobile Internet at high speed up to 100 Mbps,” the company said.
The total number of Kyivstar mobile base stations exceeded 38,000.
By now, Kyivstar has already provided access to 4G for almost 85% of the population.
The operator invested more than UAH 4 billion in the development of new mobile technologies in the first nine months of 2020.

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LIFECELL SEES INCOME RISE BY 14.2%

The mobile communications operator lifecell increased operating income by 14.2% to UAH 1.746 billion in July-September 2020 (compared to UAH 1.529 billion in July-September 2019).
According to the operator’s press service, the net profit amounted to UAH 36.8 million for the specified period (in the third quarter of 2019, the net loss was UAH 338.3 million). EBITDA increased by 12.3% to UAH 909.8 million, EBITDA margin was 52.1% (for the same period in 2019, this indicator was 53%).
The operator lifecell’s active three-month subscriber base increased by 13% to 7.8 million subscribers in the third quarter and by 2.6% compared to the previous quarter.
At the same time, the active three-month base of users of high-speed mobile 4.5G Internet grew by 51% by the end of the third quarter of 2020 compared to last year and accounted for 60% of all users of data services. Accordingly, the average use of data traffic grew by 59% year to year.
The company’s active three-month ARPU increased by 2.1% in the third quarter of 2020 and amounted to UAH 76.3 compared to UAH 74.7 in the previous year. At the same time, the 12-month active MoU grew by 20.5% to 180.8 minutes (150.1 minutes in Q3 2019).
The operator lifecell’s capital investments increased by 57.1% to UAH 860.6 million in the third quarter of 2020 versus UAH 547.7 million in the third quarter of 2019.
“This quarter we achieved net income for the first time since the company had started operating in 2005. Our subscriber base is continuing to grow, smartphone penetration has reached 81%. The company has managed to gain such results despite all challenging circumstances like pandemic environment, uncompetitive market conditions and strong commitments to state related to fast 4G rollout. And I would like to assure you that we will continue to invest in Ukraine and to do everything we can to provide all our subscribers with best products and services,” Chief Executive Officer of lifecell Ismet Yazici said.

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VODAFONE UKRAINE, UDP AGREE TO IMPLEMENT IOT IN RIVER TRANSPORTATION

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.

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MOBILE OPERATOR KYIVSTAR LAUNCHES PHISHING SMS BLOCKING SERVICE

The mobile operator Kyivstar has developed and implemented a new service to counter cyber fraud “Protection of alphanumeric names.”
This service is intended for business clients – with its help SMS messages are monitored and blocked from phishing resources, the operator said in a message on Monday.
An alphanumeric name is an alphabetic or digital signature that appears on the SMS sender line. The operator emphasizes that the service will be useful to all companies and institutions that use SMS in their work: banks, postal operators, retail, service providers, etc.
“Most often, phishing SMS are sent using commercial names and brands of companies well-known in the market. Therefore, in a number of messages from similar alpha names, subscribers may not notice the difference and automatically provide fraudsters with information about themselves or their bank account,” Kyivstar Chief Marketing Officer Pavlo Daniman said.
Kyivstar notes that when sending SMS to Kyivstar subscribers, the operator will continuously monitor and control the use of alphanumeric names or their variations only by a partner, and not by a third party. SMS delivery to Kyivstar subscribers, which uses original and visually similar alphanumeric partner names, which come from persons not authorized for such mailings, will be automatically blocked.
According to the operator, there are no analogues of this service in Ukraine.
As reported, according to the NBU, the number of fraudulent transactions with payment cards recorded by banks in January-June 2020 increased to 47,500, which is 1.4 times more than in the same period a year earlier.

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MOBILE OPERATOR KYIVSTAR EXTENDS LIMITS OF DEFERRED PAYMENT FOR CONTRACT SUBSCRIBERS AMID QUARANTINE

The Kyivstar mobile operator has extended the limits of deferred payments for individual and business contract clients for the duration of the quarantine, the operator has said. “This will allow customers to defer payment for services used in March 2020 and pay them in April,” Kyivstar emphasized. In addition, for subscribers who do not use credit limits, Kyivstar will cancel the commission when ordering additional funds until April 4.
“Limits in the framework of the deferred payment service are extended until March 31 inclusive. For subscribers who will continue using the services without payment, the limits will be automatically extended until April 4 inclusive. This is done so that subscribers who do not use the services until March 31 do not overpay,” the report says.
In addition, the operator notes that subscribers who switched to the contract using the delayed connection option, that is, signed the contract without the necessary documents at that time, will continue using all the services, and they will be able to provide the necessary documents after the quarantine is completed.
“These are the company’s next steps to help Ukrainians jointly overcome temporary difficulties and adapt to the changes that arise due to the quarantine regime,” the report says.
As reported, Kyivstar canceled the subscription fee for solutions for a remote office.

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