Ukraine’s National Commission for State Regulation of Communications & Informatization (NCCIR/NKRZI) confirms on its website that it has adopted a decision on the ‘early implementation’ of 4G LTE 900MHz network services by the country’s three GSM mobile operators Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine and Lifecell, made possible by the defragmentation and redistribution of the 900MHz spectrum band – up until now used solely for 2G.
The three 900MHz holders are expected to be issued new technology-neutral licences by next month with the aim of augmenting and expanding their existing LTE-1800 and LTE-2600 networks, while according to previous regulatory and government statements the 900MHz frequencies were set to be valid for LTE usage from 1 July 2020. The latest NCCIR decision, however, appears to lay the path for LTE-900 deployment to start before this date.
Note that as part of Ukraine’s programme of 800MHz-900MHz redistribution, CDMA operator Intertelecom will be granted permission to launch LTE in the 800MHz-850MHz range from 1 April 2020.
Source: https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2020/02/26/regulator-decides-on-early-lte-900-implementation/