Veon, the international telecommunications group that is the sole shareholder of Kyivstar, has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Intent with Rakuten Symphony, a subsidiary of the leading technology conglomerate Rakuten Group.
The aim of the cooperation is to facilitate 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 that can ensure the development of high-speed communication services. This decision was made in support of the initiative “We are building Ukraine” announced by the State Agency of Ukraine for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure.
Photo by German Bogapov
Kyivstar President Oleksandr Komarov said:
“WE ARE PLEASED TO JOIN THE STATE INITIATIVE “WE ARE BUILDING UKRAINE”. I AM CONVINCED THAT OUR EXPERTISE AND TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE OF OUR PARTNER WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WIDE RANGE OF DIGITAL SERVICES AND THE CREATION OF ADVANCED DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN UKRAINE.”
As previously reported, Kyivstar plans to raise USD 600 million over the next three years to develop new digital services and technologies in Ukraine. In particular, these investments will be used to develop the Open RAN technology, which allows to modernize 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. Rakuten’s Viber is the leading digital communications app for Ukrainians at home 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.
