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Олександр КузьменкоThat's Life
5 February 2025, 09:59
2025-02-05
Despite billions in investments, not a single operator has fulfilled the National Communications Commission's requirement of 10 hours of communication support during power outages — Forbes
Last summer, the National Center for Operational and Technical Management of Telecommunications Networks (NCT) required mobile operators to ensure that their networks operate without power for up to 10 hours. Despite significant investments, none of them managed to provide 100% of their base stations with the necessary autonomy by the February deadline.
Last summer, the National Center for Operational and Technical Management of Telecommunications Networks (NCT) required mobile operators to ensure that their networks operate without power for up to 10 hours. Despite significant investments, none of them managed to provide 100% of their base stations with the necessary autonomy by the February deadline.
In August 2024 , mobile operators Kyivstar, Vodafone and lifecell made a joint statement, noting that the requirements of the National Energy Commission require clear interaction with energy companies and a complete restructuring of the infrastructure in terms of energy supply and equipment placement. The operators indicated that they are prevented from fulfilling the orders of the National Energy Commission by a lack of personnel, the lack of the necessary number of batteries and generators on the market, and the unstable situation in the energy sector.
«Given the above factors, mobile operators are forced to inform their users that even with the maximum efforts that we certainly make every day, it is extremely difficult to ensure 100% autonomy of mobile communications and the Internet for 10 hours during power outages,» the operators concluded in a statement.
An anonymous source of Forbes Ukraine, related to the work of one of the mobile operators, claims that none of the operators has fully fulfilled the requirements of the National Communications Commission due to their complexity. According to the interlocutors of the publication, batteries are available at most of our base stations, but it is impossible to maintain them for 10 hours. Currently, the operators are looking for a compromise with the National Communications Commission.
The situation is being discussed in a working group that includes all three operators, the National Communications Commission, the State Commission for Special Communications, the telecom regulator NKEK, and the Ministry of Digital Economy. The operators are seeking to reduce the requirement for the number of hours of autonomous communication operation without electricity, but they assure that they are not seeking to reduce it to a minimum.
«This is a demotivating story — you invest money in supporting the network, and the state can still fine you,» said one of the top managers of an unnamed mobile operator.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, mobile operators have invested in the autonomy of their base stations:
Kyivstar — over 2.3 billion UAH.
Vodafone Ukraine — about UAH 2 billion.
lifecell — about 1.5 billion UAH.
It is currently unknown how much these amounts have increased over the past six months.
In September 2024, Kyivstar President Oleksandr Komarov stated that the obstacle to increasing the autonomy of the stations from at least 4 to 6 hours is physical barriers, in particular the need to replace power supply racks at each location. «I can’t say that we are fulfilling them [the requirements of the National Center for Energy Conservation], we are moving in this direction. Maybe not 10 hours, but 6 hours…», said Komarov.
New type of batteries and generators: how Kyivstar, Vodafone and Lifecell are prepared for power outages and how much money they have invested in energy independence
There wasn’t enough time — mobile operators won’t have time to meet the National Center for Communication’s requirement of 10 hours of autonomous communication. What’s next?
