Ukrainian nationwide fixed network operator Ukrtelecom has reported steady progress in attracting subscribers to its IPTV service, which it launched in July 2014. The telco revealed in a release on its website that its IPTV customer base reached 70,000 at the end of February, up by 14,000 in three months, with the lion’s share of users signing up to the ‘Optimal’ package including over 100 domestic/international TV channels and over 10,000 on-demand titles plus interactive features and applications. The largest clusters of Ukrtelecom IPTV subscribers are in Kiev, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Vinnitsia and Lviv. The company had over 1.63 million fixed broadband customers at the start of 2016, on DSL and fibre connections.

Ukraine’s telecoms market is supported by a population of almost 46 million. National telecom infrastructure is being modernized through considerable investment in both the mobile and fixed-broadband sectors. Competition is provided from a number of alternative operators. Wireless local loop and fibre operators are active, and although the incumbent Ukrtelecom remains the dominant player, the regulatory environment is likely to improve further following the sale of Ukrtelecom to the local conglomerate SCM Group.

In addition, Ukraine’s telecom market has attracted investors from Turkey and Russia. The political tension which erupted in late 2013, and which continues, has brought focus to the vulnerability of the national telecom network, parts of which have been subjected to vandalism. In addition, telcos operating in Crimea, annexed by Russia, left the peninsular after their licences were made over to Russian firms. The telecom regulator now assesses market statistics, including revenue, excluding data from Crimea and the separately administered city of Sevastopol. Continuing political and military difficulties in the country’s eastern provinces have rendered it difficult for telcos to maintain network upgrades and services.

National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization (NCCIR or NKRZI) to renew 4G LTE-suitable wireless spectrum licenses held by MMDS Ukraine, an associated company of nationwide incumbent telco Ukrtelecom’s parent SCM Group, the conglomerate owned by the country’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov. Local publication BizLiga learned that the Kiev court told the regulator to extend the validity of three 2500MHz-2700MHz licenses for at least another ten years, overruling the NCCIR’s refusal in January to extend the concessions (expiring April-May 2016) on the grounds of spectrum underutilization. It was not immediately clear whether the Kiev judgment would set a nationwide precedent, with the watchdog having previously indicated its opposition to renewing MMDS Ukraine’s 2.5GHz licenses in at least 21 other regions.

Ukrainian telecoms regulatory authorities awarded a nationwide 2.5GHz license (suitable for WiMAX, but now earmarked for LTE), without tender, in December 2005 for USD150,000 to SCM, which transferred the license to MMDS Ukraine, a firm 25%-owned by the conglomerate. BizLiga writes that SCM has not disclosed recent network rollout plans for the 4G-suitable spectrum, whilst unnamed market participants told the media outlet that Akhmetov’s group had ‘repeatedly’ tried to sell the asset, but it had not fetched a price high enough to meet its expectations.

Key developments:
– New cable to Crimean peninsula becomes operational;
– MTS and Volia end services to Crimea; damage to networks in the Donetsk oblast;
– DREAM cable linking Ukraine to Germany and China opens for commercial traffic;
– Ukrtelecom sold to Epic Services Ukraine for UAH10.57 billion; telecom revenue growth slows to 0.4% in 2013;
– Government suspends talks promoting free trade with the EU; legal amendments to Telecoms Law widens regulator’s powers; legislation approved to encourage network sharing;
– Number of fixed lines dips below 12 million; regulator finalising number portability conditions; regulator’s market data for 2014; State Statistics data updates;
– Telcos’ operating and financial data to Q4 2014; recent market developments.