Ukrtelecom and Iskratel launch €12m fibre network expansion in Ukraine

A three-year network expansion programme valued at around €12m has been announced by Ukrainian telecom operator JSC Ukrtelecom and leading European ICT supplier Iskratel, designed to bring better broadband to Ukraine.

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, and is the leading fixed internet provider, with the widest coverage.

The operator implements broad-scale projects for network development and modernisation, and provides the replacement of copper cables with optical cables, expanding the geography of services. JSC Ukrtelecom has been a part of the SCM business network since 2013, and each year builds thousands of kilometres of optics.

The three-year network expansion programme – financed by Ukrtelecom, Iskratel and its financial partners – is fundamentally designed to help expand the country’s fibre optic network as they continue to bridge the digital divide. It will set out to provide 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.

Addressing both rural and urban areas in the country, the project will target the roll-out of new fibre-optical networks. The certified telecoms equipment, to be assembled in Slovenia at Iskratel’s production centres, will be manufactured to enable customers to gain access to speeds of up to 1 Gbps to support IPTV and other IP-based services.

“The joint programme between Iskratel and Ukrtelecom is playing an increasingly important role in the roll-out of broadband Internet in Ukraine,” said Iskratel CEO Željko Puljic. “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 €25m.”

“Ukrtelecom is a nationwide telecommunications company with the largest geographical coverage and we continue in our mission of bridging the digital divide across Ukraine,” added Ukrtelecom CEO Yuriy Kurmaz. “Working with Iskratel will boost our contribution to the development of Internet access in Ukraine.”

The project is the latest in a series undertaken by the two companies. In 2020, in a programme valued at approximately €7m, Iskratel and Ukrtelecom announced a two-year network construction project and connected more than 200 localities in 13 Ukrainian regions.

A year previously, Ukrtelecom and Iskratel rolled out fibre broadband for 300 localities.