Ukraine’s largest mobile operator by users, Kyivstar, has announced that it will start work on 5 April 2020 to upgrade its base stations for LTE 900MHz services, mainly in rural areas and along highways. It warned subscribers there may be short-term declines in the quality of services locally as the upgrades are carried out.
According to the Ukrainian government’s plans, by 2024 95% of transport infrastructure, settlements and their ‘social objects’ should be provided with high speed internet coverage, with lower-band LTE expansion playing an important role in meeting targets. Kyivstar, alongside rivals Vodafone and Lifecell, was earlier this month granted permission to utilise formerly-GSM-only 900MHz frequencies for 4G (with commercial services permitted from 1 July 2020).
Meanwhile, Kyivstar also announced that it has recently connected an additional 504 settlements to its LTE (1800MHz/2600MHz) network, taking its 4G footprint to 77% of Ukraine’s population.
Source: https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2020/03/30/kyivstar-starting-lte-900-deployment-next-month/