Lifecell commented on a potential agreement to merge the tower infrastructure of mobile operators Kyivstar and Vodafone Ukraine.
Lifecell commented on a potential agreement to merge the tower infrastructure of mobile operators Kyivstar and Vodafone Ukraine.
Earlier it became known that Kyivstar’s parent company VEON filed an application with the Antimonopoly Committee (AMCU) to merge part of its tower business with Vodafone Ukraine. Vodafone noted that they do not have binding agreements with VEON, but are considering «scenarios for increasing the efficiency of infrastructure use», in particular through its merger with other companies.
Lifecell believes that this is not an ordinary commercial deal, but a decision that «will forever change the structure of the Ukrainian telecom market and slow down its development for years to come.» The company emphasized that «healthy competition» is the foundation for the development of telecommunications infrastructure, but now it is under threat.
«The merger of the passive mobile infrastructure of the two largest operators will lead to monopolization and structural distortion of the telecom market, which may affect the pace of innovation and weaken the focus on subscriber needs. In the long term, the consequences of such changes may be reflected on end consumers,» says lifecell’s position.
The company warned that the consequences of the deal would go far beyond the mobile communications market, and the deal «could threaten the security of national communications in general.»
«It was the extensiveness of the infrastructure that helped ensure the work of the defense forces, emergency services, and supported subscribers during a cyberattack on one of the mobile operators in 2023. Therefore, the issue of the stability of the telecom market during wartime remains more relevant than ever,» lifecell recalled the large-scale cyberattack on Kyivstar .
The company believes that the deal could also harm Ukraine’s investment attractiveness due to excessive concentration of critical infrastructure «in one hand.»
«Given the large-scale impact on the market and millions of consumers, the consideration of the deal should be open and transparent, involving all market participants and the expert community,» lifecell urged.
Let us remind you that according to the NKEC report on the provision of number portability services for 2025, the largest number of subscribers switched to lifecell.
