Vodafone Ukraine, Kyivstar announce LTE expansions, upgrades

Mobile operator Vodafone Ukraine – a subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s Bakcell under the Neqsol group – says it has increased its 4G LTE frequency bandwidth to 2×15MHz across the Transcarpathian region to raise capacity and ‘more than double’ data speeds in response to LTE internet user demand. The work involved transferring additional GSM 1800MHz spectrum to LTE and reconfiguring over 250 sites in the mountainous region, whilst similar LTE upgrades are also underway in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Volyn regions. The cellco disclosed that it is also in the process of dynamically expanding its LTE spectrum band from 2×15MHz to 2×20MHz in the Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions, following completion of projects to expand 4G bandwidth in Odessa and Zhytomyr.

Furthermore, Vodafone Ukraine revealed on its website the successful testing of Nokia’s AirScale next-generation ‘5G-ready’ equipment on its 1800MHz/2600MHz LTE network in Kiev, recording a peak mobile data transfer speed of 525Mbps.

Larger rival Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar, meanwhile, has announced the expansion of its LTE network coverage across 483 additional settlements in eleven regions to reach a total of more than 11,000 settlements countrywide, serving almost 79% of the national population.

―Comms Update