People walk past a store of Ukraine's telecommunications company Kyivstar, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 12, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's largest mobile operator Kyivstar has become the first in Europe to launch Starlink's direct-to-cell satellite technology in a bid to keep millions connected amid wartime blackouts and disrupted infrastructure, the company said on Monday.
Kyivstar is initially offering SMS capabilities via the technology and plans to extend to voice and data next year, under a deal between Elon Musk's Starlink and telecoms group Veon, the owner of Kyivstar.
"In Ukraine, staying connected means staying safe," Kyivstar's CEO Oleksandr Komarov said in a statement, adding that the service would enhance network resilience. Kyivstar serves about 22.5 million mobile customers in Ukraine.
PROLONGED BLACKOUTS, DAMAGED NETWORKS
The service would enable customers to remain connected on regular 4G smartphones during prolonged blackouts, in recently de-occupied territories where terrestrial networks could be damaged or under restoration, and during rescue and humanitarian missions.
The company has already ramped up its measures to keep its network online by adding batteries and generators to provide more than 10 hours of continuous coverage when the grid power is not available due to long blackouts, Komarov said.
During nearly four years of the war, Russia frequently struck the Ukrainian power sector and other infrastructure with hundreds of drones and missiles, damaging electricity distribution and generation capacities and forcing long blackouts.
Direct-to-cell technology allows smartphones to connect to satellite networks in space that beam telephone signals back to Earth.
Ukraine's armed forces are heavily reliant on Starlink terminals for battlefield communications and some drone operations. More than 50,000 terminals are currently in operation in Ukraine, according to officials.
Starlink, provides internet services via a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites and is widely used in remote areas and conflict zones.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Conor Humphries)
