Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, will continue to invest in fixed internet energy independence in 2024, with total investments expected to reach 50-70 million hryvnia by the end of the year.
As the company’s news agency reported on Friday, Kyiv Star has invested more than 200 million hryvnia to provide uninterrupted power supply to fixed internet networks during 2023. These investments will enable approximately 700,000 subscribers to access the Internet during power outages.
The company plans to install equipment for uninterrupted home internet operation in 44 cities across Ukraine. Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) will be installed at 22,300 addresses and 180 professionals will be engaged in their installation.
The company says this modernization will allow home internet networks to operate for up to five hours without electricity.
Kyivstar began connecting home internet networks to UPS in October 2022. In addition, the company is developing an energy-efficient Internet using GPON technology starting from the second half of 2023.
The company plans to partially modernize and replace existing technology with GPON in some cities in 2024. “In the short and medium term, GPON is also building out lines from base stations equipped with mobile diesel generators, which can provide long-term internet access to consumers during power outages. As long as we have the capacity, we will supply fuel and components, power the base station generators, and maintain internet access for users connected via GPON technology,” said Serhiy, Head of Fixed Communications at Kyivstar. Sukhoruk said.
Previously, it was reported that Kyivstar has started connecting enterprise customers in Dnipro to the gigabit optical network GPON.
Kyivstar plans to connect seven more cities to high-speed internet via GPON by the end of March 2024. The company provides services such as fixed internet, data transmission and telephony at speeds of 20 Mbps, 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps. Additionally, the range of services and connection conditions will be expanded in the future.
GPON (Gigabit-capable passive optical network) allows the internet to work even when there is no electricity in the building. As revealed by Kyivstar, this network is less dependent on external factors, as fiber optics can transmit data over long distances without significant signal loss or active equipment.
