The Ministry of Digital Affairs stated that after Lviv, Borodyanka, and Kharkiv, Kyiv should be the next testing ground for 5G. At the same time, the state and operators have already agreed on a deadline for the final shutdown of 3G.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs stated that after Lviv, Borodyanka, and Kharkiv, Kyiv should be the next testing ground for 5G. At the same time, the state and operators have already agreed on a deadline for the final shutdown of 3G.
As Stanislav Prybytko, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for Digital Infrastructure Development, told RBC-Ukraine in an interview, technical preparations for the launch of 5G are currently underway in the capital: operators are ordering equipment and finalizing locations for base stations to ensure high-quality coverage. According to him, there are no regulatory obstacles to the pilot from the state side.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs says that the 5G pilot has already shown the first results in other cities. The technology was tested in real conditions by more than 500,000 users. After the coverage appeared, subscribers began to consume traffic more actively, in particular for video, downloading large files and working with cloud services. Prybytko claims that even with a sharp increase in load, the quality of communication did not deteriorate.
Another important point from the interview concerns 3G. According to the official, the operators have agreed to completely turn off this technology by January 1, 2031. Frequencies will be gradually reoriented to 4G, which the ministry sees as a basis for further scaling up 5G. At the same time, 4G will not disappear after the launch of 5G, but will operate in parallel.
Separately, Prybytko spoke about the preparation of networks for blackouts. According to him, 100% of base stations already have batteries that provide basic autonomy for 4–6 hours, and 92% are able to maintain communication for up to 8 hours. For longer power outages, operators use generators, and the Ministry of Digital Affairs is betting on the development of xPON as the main non-volatile technology for home Internet.
The pilot launch of 5G in Ukraine started in early 2026 in Lviv , later test zones were opened in Borodyanka and Kharkiv . In parallel, the state is preparing new rules for communication quality: they want to officially establish Internet speed as a service criterion, and control over compliance with the requirements should be carried out by the National Commission for the Control of Electricity and Gas Consumption.
Previously, dev.ua wrote that Olga Ustinova predicts that the company will fully switch to 5G technology after the end of the war, as this area requires significant investments.
