Rakuten and Kyivstar will develop digital services and telecom infrastructure in Ukraine

International telecom group Veon (Kingdom of the Netherlands), which is the sole shareholder of Kyivstar PJSC, announced the signing of Memorandum of Intent with Rakuten Symphony, a subsidiary of the leading technology conglomerate Rakuten Group, with the aim of contributing to the reconstruction of Ukraine’s telecom infrastructure by introducing new digital services and technologies.

According to the terms of the Memorandum, both companies intend to create a reliable telecommunications infrastructure in Ukraine, which can provide unimpeded development of high-speed communication services.

This decision was made in support of the “We are building Ukraine” initiative, which was announced by the State Agency of Ukraine for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure.

As Oleksandr Komarov, president of Kyivstar, comments, “We are glad to join the state initiative “We are building Ukraine”.

I am convinced that our expertise and the technological experience of our partner will contribute to the development of a wide range of digital services and the creation of an advanced digital infrastructure in Ukraine.”

As previously reported, Kyivstar plans to attract 600 million US dollars in the next three years for the development of new digital services and technologies in Ukraine.

In particular, these investments will be used for the development of Open RAN technology, which allows the modernization of existing radio networks using equipment from different suppliers. This will also contribute to the future development of the 5G standard in Ukraine.

Kyivstar and Rakuten have a successful history of cooperation. So Viber from Rakuten is the leading application for digital communications for Ukrainians in the country and abroad.

It also provides services to Ukrainian businesses, including through an existing partnership with Kyivstar.

In addition, Rakuten Symphony is a leading provider of Open RAN solutions and has vast experience gained from successfully building large-scale commercial cloud networks around the world.

Help about Kyivstar

Kyivstar is the largest Ukrainian electronic communications operator, serving 24.3 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million “Home Internet” subscribers as of March 2023.

The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, services for cyber protection, digital TV, etc. Kyivstar helps subscribers, society and the country overcome the difficulties of wartime.

During the full-scale war, the company provided humanitarian aid to the Armed Forces, subscribers, and society in the amount of over UAH 1.1 billion. The shareholder of Kyivstar is the international VEON Group.

The Group’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ (New York) and Euronext (Amsterdam) stock exchanges. Kyivstar has been working in Ukraine for 25 years and is recognized as the largest taxpayer in the telecom market, the best employer and a socially responsible company.

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