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Telecommunications is one of the most modern, diverse and fast-growing sectors in the economy of Ukraine. Unlike the country's dominating export industries, telecommunications, as well as the related Internet sector, remain largely unaffected by the global economic crisis, ranking high in European and global rankings.

The industry also leads in demonopolization of Ukraine's economy as Ukrtelekom (once the country's sole telephone provider) was successfully privatized, and is now losing its retail market share to independent, foreign-invested private providers.

The entire population of Ukraine now has telephone and/or mobile phone connection;^[a] Internet access is universally available in cities and main transport corridors, expanding into smaller settlements.

Ukraine's telecommunication development plan emphasizes further improving domestic trunk lines, international connections, and the mobile cellular system.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, telecommunications were provided by the Starlink satellite service.^[1]^[2]

Internet audience

International data network

Two new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fibre-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and three Ukrainian links have been installed in the fibre-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL) project that connects 18 countries; additional international service is provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fibre-optic submarine cable and by earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems.

Fixed telephone network

Telephones - land lines in use: 12.681 million (2011)

Upon gaining independence from the USSR in 1991, Ukraine inherited an analogue PSTN telephone system that was antiquated, inefficient, and in many places in disrepair; meanwhile demand overwhelmed the supply with more than 3.5 million households applications for telephone lines pending. Telephone density has since risen and the domestic trunk system is being improved; about one-third of Ukraine's networks are digital, and the majority of regional centres now have digital switching stations. Improvements in local networks and local exchanges continue to lag.

Several independent fixed network providers established themselves in the country's retail market, although Ukrtelecom still dominates it.

Mobile phone networks

Market penetration

The mobile cellular telephone system's expansion has slowed, largely due to the saturation of the market, which has reached 125 mobile phones per 100 people.

Telephones - mobile cellular: 55.578 million (2011)

Mobile phone networks

Rank	Operator	Technology	Subscribers (in millions)	Ownership	MCC / MNC
1	Kyivstar (Including previous Beeline Ukraine network)	900/1800 MHz GSM (GPRS, EDGE) 2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSPA+ 900/1800/2100/2300/2600 MHz LTE, LTE-A VoLTE	25.9 (2Q 2021)	Veon	25503 and 25502
2	Vodafone (Formerly MTS Ukraine)	900/1800 MHz GSM (GPRS, EDGE) 2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSPA+ 900/1800/2100/2600 MHz LTE, LTE-A	18.9 (2Q 2021)	Bakcell	25501
3	Lifecell (Formerly Life)	900/1800 MHz GSM (GPRS, EDGE) 2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSPA+, 3C-HSDPA 900/1800/2100/2600 MHz LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro	9.9 (Q3 2021)	Turkcell	25506
4	Intertelecom	800 MHz CDMA2000, CDMA2000 EV-DO rel.0, rev. A, rev. B (The gradual shutdown of the network began in many regions since 2020)	1.4 (3Q 2017)	Odinaco Ltd (49%), Viktor Gushan (35.7%)	25504
5	TriMob	2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA (Own 3G network in Kyiv city centre only. Free 2G/3G roaming on Vodafone network available)	0.300 (2Q 2018) excluding Lycamobile	Ukrtelecom	25507
6	PEOPLEnet	800 MHz CDMA2000, CDMA2000 EV-DO (Network in Dnipropetrovsk region only)	0.853 (4Q 2012)	Telesystemy Ukrainy	25521

Mobile phone manufacturers

The following companies in Ukraine are manufacturing mobile phones:

Borton
Impression Electronics^[3]

Radio broadcast stations

300 (2007)

Ukrainian Amateur Radio League

Internet in Ukraine

country code - .ua
Internet hosts: 2.173 million (2012)
Internet users: 41,8 million (2013)

History

Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Ukraine's military and government rapidly became dependent on SpaceX's Starlink satellite services during Russian's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as Russia attacked key infrastructures including telecommunication ones, and Ukraine was experiencing significant problems with Internet access.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Satellite internet from SpaceX had key telecommunications role such as in the Siege of Azovstal (April 15–May 20), which helped Ukrainian defenders to resist Russian troops in Mariupol.^[7]

While military and government use of Starlink has been the most important aspect of opening Ukraine to low-altitude satellite internet services in early 2022, civilians are also heavily using the technology "to keep in touch with the outside world and tell loved ones that they are alive." During the war, Ukrainians can use Starlink terminals without paying the usual monthly subscription fee.^[8]

To pay for the cost of Starlink in Ukraine, SpaceX donated for an estimate of over $100 million,^[9] while an unknown amount was secured by several European countries and the US government.^[10]^[1] In June 2023, The Pentagon communicated that the Department of Defense signed a contract with SpaceX's Starlink to buy those satellite services for Ukraine.^[1]

The use of Starlink in Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine was however restricted by SpaceX, according to Ukrainian officials.^[6]

Telecommunications-related government bodies

Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine (Official website (in Ukrainian))
State Special Communications Service of Ukraine (Official website Archived 2016-04-01 at the Wayback Machine)
National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization of Ukraine (Official website)

Notes

^ except for a few very remote and sparsely inhabited settlements

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Stone, Mike; Roulette, Joey (2023-06-01). "SpaceX's Starlink wins Pentagon contract for satellite services to Ukraine". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
^ Elon Musk says SpaceX's Starlink satellites active over Ukraine after request from embattled country's leaders Archived 2022-02-27 at Ghost Archive, The Independent (26 February 2022)
^ "Производство". impression.ua. Archived from the original on 2020-09-03. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
^ "@elonmusk while you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand". Twitter. 26 February 2022. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
^ Sabbagh, Dan (2023-02-09). "Fury in Ukraine as Elon Musk's SpaceX limits Starlink use for drones". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
^ ^a ^b "How Elon Musk's satellites have saved Ukraine and changed warfare". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2023-09-23. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
^ Landry, Carole (2022-07-25). "Inside the Azovstal Siege". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-10-15. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
^ Antoniuk, Daryna (3 September 2022). "How Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet keeps Ukraine online". Kyiv Independent. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
^ Bajak, Frank (9 February 2023). "Musk deputy's words on Starlink 'weaponization' vex Ukraine". The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
^ Brodkin, Jon (2022-12-20). "Ukraine to get 10,000 more Starlink antennas; funding problems are "resolved"". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 19 May 2023.

External links

Industry-specific media

Watcher: (in Ukrainian) - Ukrainian Internet business and marketing online newspaper
ProIT (in Russian) - Ukrainian IT industry online newspaper
AIN (in Russian) - Ukrainian IT industry online newspaper