Lotte will Rebuild Kyivstar Network in Ukraine after War Ends

According to foreign media Light Reading, last week, operator VEON, headquartered in Amsterdam and active in markets from Ukraine to Bangladesh, announced a partnership with Rakuten Symphony. Light Reading interviewed VEON CEO Kaan Terzioglu to learn more details about their plan.
Rakuten Symphony is a new business organization established by Japan’s Lotte Group in 2021, aiming to integrate the Open RAN infrastructure related products and services of various companies such as Lotte Mobile, Altiostar Networks, and Innoeye in the United States to provide them to operators, enterprises, and government agencies around the world.
As clearly pointed out when the two sides announced their partnership, a significant part of this cooperation lies in rebuilding the Ukrainian network (after the end of the war). This will belong to VEON’s $600 million investment plan in the country. The second aspect of cooperation will examine the telecommunications and consumer businesses of the two companies.

In Ukraine, Kyivstar, a subsidiary of VEON, had to maintain the operation of its network despite numerous challenges posed by the Russian invasion. Although Kyivstar maintained a relatively stable network operation and rebuilt most of the facilities that were damaged during last year’s Russian attack, Terzioglu explained that the situation is complex.
He said that once peace arrives – no matter when it arrives – this network will need to be completely redesigned. Terzioglu admits that although he used to be skeptical of Open RAN, the situation has now changed. He said, “Time has changed, technology has advanced, and things that are not economically feasible have become reasonable.” At the same time, he believes that for mature markets, transitioning from traditional infrastructure to Open RAN is not economically feasible.
One reason why VEON is interested in Open RAN is that it believes that the technology will allow for the implementation of Western security standards. Terzioglu stated that Open RAN can also establish a simpler network for Kyivstar by reducing the required number of Stock keeping units (SKUs) from 400 to 4. He also mentioned the recent third-party tests conducted in Japan, stating that these tests indicate that Lotte’s technology is on par with its competitors in 4G and leading in 5G.

As for the redesign of the network itself, Terzioglu stated that the fiber layer, as well as the active and passive layers, will be completely redefined. The plan aims to establish a strong and secure infrastructure in Ukraine through 4G, 5G, and even 6G. Satellite networks and smart cities will become a part of it.
At present, the cooperation between the two sides is still in its early stages. A spokesperson for Lotte stated in an email sent to Light Reading that the specific details of the work have not yet been determined. It is currently clear that VEON will lead the project, while Rakuten Symphony will provide software and technology.
Although it is still too early to determine how much of the $600 million will be part of the partnership, Lotte said, “VEON’s commitment is related to network investment, including future 5G launches and digital expansion, both of which are within the scope of our discussion, namely rebuilding Ukraine’s infrastructure with Open RAN and supporting the country’s digitization.”