A €12 Million investment will bring better broadband to Ukraine, it has been announced. The partnership between Ukrainian telecom operator JSC Ukrtelecom and leading European ICT vendor and solutions provider Iskratel will help expand the country’s fibre optic network as they continue to bridge the digital divide.
The three-year network expansion program — financed by Ukrtelecom, Iskratel and its financial partners — provides more than 300 locations in various Ukrainian regions with gigabit-capable connectivity. The Passive Optical Network (PON) technology will potentially offer connectivity to 1.3 Million people and 530,000 homes.
“The joint program between Iskratel and Ukrtelecom is playing an increasingly important role in the roll out of broadband Internet in Ukraine,” Iskratel CEO Željko Puljic emphasised. “This collaboration continues the long-term partnership between our two companies in the development of fibre-optical access in the country that now amounts to €25 Million.”
Addressing both rural and urban areas in the country, the project targets the roll out of new fibre-optical networks. Modern certified telecommunications equipment, that is assembled in Slovenia at Iskratel’s production centres enables customers to gain access to speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s, IPTV and other IP-based services.
“Ukrtelecom is a nationwide telecommunications company with the largest geographical coverage and we continue in our mission of bridging the digital divide across Ukraine,” Ukrtelecom CEO Yuriy Kurmaz said. “Working with Iskratel will boost our contribution to the development of Internet access in Ukraine.”
Last year, with a total investment of approximately EUR 7 Million, Iskratel and Ukrtelecom announced its two-year network construction project and connected more than 200 localities in 13 Ukrainian regions. Previously, Ukrtelecom and Iskratel rolled out fibre broadband for 300 localities in the project, launched in 2019.
JSC Ukrtelecom is one of the largest telecommunications companies in Ukraine. It offers customers all over the country almost all types of modern telecommunication services on a single account. Ukrtelecom is the leading fixed internet provider, with the widest coverage.
The operator implements broad-scale projects for the network development and modernisation, provides the replacement of copper cables with optical cables, expanding the geography of services. Each year Ukrtelecom builds thousands of kilometres of optics. Since 2013, JSC Ukrtelecom is a part of the SCM business.
