War still Affects Telecommunications in Ukraine

More than a thousand days after Russia launched a full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine is still ongoing. For Ukrainian telecommunications operators, this means being able to maintain customer network connectivity even in the face of frequent power outages, understaffing, and network damage.
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest operator, had to deal with the financial impact of US $95 million caused by the network attack in December last year, which cut off customers’ mobile Internet, telephone and SMS services at the beginning of this year. This money is mainly the result of customer retention measures, not hardware. Later this year, Kyivstar announced that it will invest $1 billion in the country between 2023 and 2027 for the development of networks, digital infrastructure, and new assets.

Despite the war, Ukraine’s telecommunications industry still attracted one of the most important operators on the European continent. Xavier Niel is the founder of the disruptive Iliad group in Europe, which acquired Ukraine’s third-largest operator Lifecell for $524.3 million this year. This move is part of Niel’s broader strategy, in which Niel also acquired fixed and pay TV operator Datagroup Volia to create a converged operator.
At the same time, the war between the West and Russia and broader geopolitical tensions continue to affect Europe, especially in the east. Light Reading interviewed Telia Lietuva’s CEO, giedrvilKaminskait ė – Alters, who stated that Lithuanian operators have been in discussions with Ukrainian operators on how to maintain network operations during wartime. Telia Lietuva also has to deal with intense cyber attacks from neighboring countries Russia and Belarus.
At the same time, the threat of cutting off fiber optic cables worldwide has been increasing, and people are increasingly concerned that Russia may participate in such activities in Europe.