In the first half of 2024, lifecell team launched 265 new and modernized 820 base stations across Ukraine. As a result, another 290 settlements with a population of more than 121 thousand people got access to 4G high-speed mobile Internet.
Construction and repair of base stations
Since the beginning of 2024, the lifecell team has launched 265 new base stations in different regions of the country. Most of them were built in Kyiv, Zakarpattia, Lviv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Odesa and Chernihiv regions. Despite the constant threat of shelling from the Russian Federation, the operator also continued to build its network in Dnipropetrovs’k, Kharkiv, Poltava, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia regions.
In addition to building new base stations and restoring equipment damaged by the occupiers, lifecell modernized 820 base stations in six months, providing 2/3G subscribers with access to 4G high-speed mobile Internet. Thus, as of July 2024, more than 17 thousand cities and villages of Ukraine with a population of more than 31 million people have 4G from lifecell.
In the frontline regions (Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk), the operator’s equipment is regularly damaged by shelling, and repair teams have to go out and repair it to maintain communication in these regions. In the first six months of 2024 alone, lifecell’s repair teams made about 25 thousand visits to repair equipment due to shelling and blackouts.
Communication during blackouts
In addition to expanding coverage, the mobile operator’s team is working to ensure that Ukrainians are connected even during blackouts. More than 5,000 lifecell base stations across Ukraine have already been equipped with new lithium batteries.
The new type of batteries are fast-charging and durable and can maintain communication for up to 4 hours in the absence of stationary power and moderate load on the network. Also, as of July 2024, more than 1700 lifecell base stations are provided with alternative power supply using generators – stationary, mobile and partner ones.
Since the beginning of terrorist attacks on the energy infrastructure in 2022, the company has invested UAH 950 million in the energy independence of the network, and by the end of 2024 this amount will exceed UAH 1 billion.