Kyivstar is the new leader in internet speed and also has the best mobile network. What do the results of a recent Ookla study say?

The Ookla Speedtest Awards recognize the fastest and most efficient fixed and mobile operators worldwide. Ookla’s coverage data is validated by the results of over 514,000 tests conducted by subscribers on the Speedtest mobile app.

What is the internet speed in Ukraine?

Ookla has released an updated ranking of internet speeds for different countries around the world and individual cities. In terms of fixed internet, Ukraine ranked 71st with an average speed of 84.40 Mbps.

Singapore holds the world lead in the fixed internet category, with an average speed of 336.45 Mbps. The top ten also includes the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, several European countries, and the United States, which ranked seventh with 274.16 Mbps.

Among Ukrainian cities, Kharkiv has the best performance, ranking 101st in the mobile Internet ranking with a speed of 56.75 Mbps. Kyiv is ranked 114th. In the fixed Internet category, the capital of Ukraine ranked 83rd (93.73 Mbps), and Kharkiv ranked 93rd (87.12 Mbps). For comparison, the leader of the city ranking, Abu Dhabi, has a speed of 331.46 Mbps, and cities such as Valparaiso (Chile) and Lyon (France) demonstrate a speed of about 330 Mbps. In Beijing and New York, the average speed is about 300 Mbps.

In the mobile Internet segment, Ukraine ranked 81st with an average speed of 42.68 Mbps. The slowest mobile Internet is in Belarus, Syria, Bolivia, and Eritrea. The United Arab Emirates and other wealthy Arab monarchies hold the lead in this segment. Bulgaria, Brazil, Georgia, and South Korea hold high positions. Among Western European countries, only Denmark is in the top ten.

What Ookla’s Speedtest showed: which mobile operator is the best?

To determine the leader, Ookla experts analyzed 2,695,974 tests conducted by subscribers of all mobile operators in Ukraine.

According to this data, the speed score in the Kyivstar network, measured in July-December 2024, was 35.65 on average across the country, which is the highest result among Ukrainian mobile operators. For comparison, Vodafone’s speed score was 33.38, and LifeCell’s was 29.42.

However, the speed of mobile Internet depends on your location, network congestion, and the level of the radio signal, which is affected by obstacles such as walls or weather. The Ookla rating allows you to understand the overall picture by analyzing the average speed, but, for example, in Kyiv, the download speed on 4G from Kyivstar can reach above 200 Mbps.

Kyivstar Technical Director Volodymyr Lutchenko adds: «During periods of minimal load in certain locations, the peak speed in our 4G network, when almost the entire base station resource is available to one subscriber, can reach more than 1 Gbps,» he says.

At the same time, according to Kyivstar’s internal monitoring, the average data transfer speed in the operator’s network increased by more than 30% during 2024. This became possible thanks to significant investments in infrastructure, active development and modernization of the network .

In addition to the highest internet speed, Kyivstar received the best result in coverage testing — 36.18, which is 4,84% higher than the nearest competitor. This indicator is based on the analysis of 386,316,615 scans made in verified locations where operators provide their services. Kyivstar’s high-speed 4G network is currently available to 95,7% of the population of Ukraine.

The secret of success

How did Kyivstar manage to become the best? Here are four key components to achieving this result:

1. Infrastructure investments. The total amount of capital investments since the beginning of the full-scale war, which Kyivstar has directed to modernization, restoration, development of the 4G network, expansion of network infrastructure, and strengthening energy security, is about UAH 24 billion (as of Q4 2024).
   Since 2013, VEON, the parent company of Kyivstar, has already invested over $10 billion in Ukraine and has committed to invest another $1 billion in restoring digital infrastructure between 2023 and 2027. This will contribute to Ukraine’s economic growth and technological progress.
   
   According to the President of Kyivstar, Oleksandr Komarov, «the operator’s infrastructure is the basis for providing critical services for people, the economy, and the country’s governance during the war. We are actively working on developing, modernizing, and increasing the resilience of the network. Recognition of our work by international experts is an important confirmation of our efforts and shows that even in difficult times we do not lose focus on the quality of services for our subscribers,» he noted.
2. Network modernization. Kyivstar continues to develop its infrastructure geographically and increases its capacity. This increases data transfer speed. Kyivstar’s 4G is available to over 95,7% of the population. Kyivstar’s network consists of over 66,000 base stations.
   According to the company, during the full-scale war, more than 2,700 new telecom sites (8,503 base stations) were built (as of January 2025), and more than 20,000 network modernization works were carried out.
3. Replacing 3G with 4G. A significant increase in data transfer speeds throughout 2024 was facilitated by the active implementation of 4G technology in the 2100 MHz frequency range instead of 3G technology, as 4G technology uses the spectrum much more efficiently.
   Kyivstar has already conducted such tests in 28 cities of Ukraine. The expected result was a noticeable increase in 4G data transfer speed by an average of 62%.
   For example, 4G speed in Sumy increased by 63%, in Kolomyia by 42%, in Lutsk by 46%, in Nizhyn by 64%. This multi-year project is of great importance for the entire electronic communications industry, because thanks to it not only the customer experience is improved, but also the network is being prepared for the launch of 5G technology in Ukraine. And this can be implemented, including by freeing up frequencies from outdated technologies, such as 3G.
4. Investments in spectrum. Additional spectrum in the 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz bands, which Kyivstar received following the results of the spectrum auction in November 2024, in turn increased opportunities to improve the quality of services — additional frequencies allowed to increase network capacity and serve a larger number of subscribers, while maintaining a high quality of service.
5. Resilience during power outages. Kyivstar does everything possible to ensure that subscribers stay connected and do not experience a significant decrease in the quality of services even during power outages. Thanks to significant investments, as well as active and systematic work, Kyivstar has increased the resilience of its telecom network more than three times since the beginning of the full-scale war. Since 2022, more than UAH 2.3 billion of investments have been directed to ensuring energy independence. Currently, Kyivstar has about 200,000 batteries. Additionally, more than 3,000 generators support the operation of key network facilities.
   In 2025, Kyivstar plans to install over 1,000 powerful generators and over 52,000 batteries (one battery is considered to be a 12 V 100 A*h battery). In particular, in the near future, the operator expects to supply over 13,000 more batteries to enhance the energy independence of the telecom network.

How much does the fastest internet in Ukraine cost?

Here are the tariffs offered to customers by the leader in mobile Internet speed, and also the owner of the number one network in Ukraine according to Ookla.

Subscription

Contract

Currently, tariffs in both categories are quite favorable for new subscribers switching from other operators to Kyivstar. It is possible to fix the cost of services for a year with a tariff of only 220 UAH for 4 weeks of use.

Tariffs with unlimited, the fastest mobile Internet in Ukraine are also quite affordable — from 350 UAH for subscribers and 600 UAH for contract subscribers.

Are you thinking about changing your mobile operator? We compared the conditions and features of Kyivstar, Vodafone, and lifecell. Who should you choose?

On the topic

Are you thinking about changing your mobile operator? We compared the conditions and features of Kyivstar, Vodafone, and lifecell. Who should you choose?

Kyivstar has been actively creating an M&A team. The company may not limit itself to buying Uklon and Tabletki.ua

On the topic

Kyivstar has been actively creating an M&A team. The company may not limit itself to buying Uklon and Tabletki.ua

Kyivstar will restart support bot: the first version of the new AI-based solution will be released in the spring

On the topic

Kyivstar will restart support bot: the first version of the new AI-based solution will be released in the spring

Read the country’s main IT news in our Telegram

On the topic

Read the country’s main IT news in our Telegram