Around 1.5 million people use Kyiv Metro every day, having to spend 60-120 minutes underground without internet access.
Three major Ukrainian mobile carriers and the Chinese tech giant Huawei are set to change that.
While the implementation of the fourth generation mobile network throughout the metro has been delayed for seven years, telecommunications operators Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine and lifecell have successfully launched 4G in Kyiv’s Akademmistechko metro station on March 5.
If the city government finally grants its approval, these companies expect to expand the network to all stations and tunnels by the end of the year.
“Now we are waiting for the support of the Kyiv City Council and the adoption of relevant legislation by the lawmakers,” said Ismet Yazici, CEO of Turkish-owned Ukrainian mobile operator lifecell.
Most importantly, the city has to establish tariffs for telecom access in municipal transport facilities. The city council is scheduled to vote on these tariffs on March 12.
According to the initial plan of mayoral adviser Maksym Bakhmatov, 4G access will appear in Zhytomyrska, Sviatoshyn, Nyvky, Heroiv Dnipra, Minska, Obolon, Syrets, Dorohozhychi and Lukianivska stations within the first quarter of 2020.
No progress in seven years
The Kyiv City Council first promised to launch the 4G network in the Kyiv metro in 2013. But the tender to build the network infrastructure was only awarded in August 2019, to Huawei.
“The fact that there was no 4G in the subway had nothing to do with the work of operators,” Dennis Kazvan, head of corporate communications in lifecell told the Kyiv Post. “The main barrier was lawmakers of the Kyiv City Council.”
Following the tender award, mobile operators started preparing their equipment to help build the network. But the city council had yet to approve the mobile access tariffs.
“The government claimed that the system of tariffs calculation is flawed,” project manager Tetyana Kostirkina told the Kyiv Post. However, both operators and managers believe that there are also some corrupt schemes involved, she added.
The launch of 4G in the Akademmistechko station was made possible by an agreement between the mobile carriers and the municipal enterprise KyivZhytloSpetsEkspluatatsiya, which ensures the operation and repair of the city’s utility networks. The contract allows operators to modernize the equipment in the Akademmistechko to meet 4G standards.
A space for innovation
With $20 million invested, Ukrainian mobile companies are aiming to provide top quality service for their consumers.
“The technical decision in the Kyiv Metropolitan is one of the most advanced in the world,” Vodafone Ukraine CEO Olga Ustinova said.
Currently, the 4G network operates in the LTE-1800 standard, but to ensure better quality and speed the operators will introduce the LTE-2600 standard down the road.
Kyiv Metropolitan consists of 52 stations and transports 500 million passengers annually. The government set a goal to connect all stations to the 4G network by the end of 2020 and to provide the internet to the 95% of transport infrastructure and settlements by 2024.
