In June, the government approved a resolution on new rules for the provision of electronic communication services, according to which mobile operators received tools developed by the Ministry of Digital Affairs to combat spam calls and intrusive advertising. We asked Kyivstar, Vodafone, and lifecell how they plan to implement the new rules.
In June, the government approved a resolution on new rules for the provision of electronic communication services, according to which mobile operators received tools developed by the Ministry of Digital Affairs to combat spam calls and intrusive advertising. We asked Kyivstar, Vodafone, and lifecell how they plan to implement the new rules.
"Kyivstar, like any other mobile operator, is obliged to prevent abuse when using telecom network services. If a subscriber violates the rules for using the network and this may cause losses or violate the rights of other subscribers or the operator, we have the right to limit or terminate the provision of services or change the terms of service. The company may temporarily suspend access to electronic communication services in case of using a personal number for commercial purposes, violating the rules for routing international call traffic, or committing actions that cause financial losses for the company, deterioration of service quality, or complaints from subscribers," the company's press service explains.
In most cases, Kyivstar restricts the provision of services if it has a complaint about fraud, spam, etc. from another subscriber. The “Rules for the Provision and Reception of Electronic Communication Services” recently approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine disclose these procedures in great detail to protect the rights of subscribers.
“We support the anti-spam measures proposed in the Rules. Their full implementation requires some time — in particular, to identify all numbers from which unwanted calls are received, as well as the persons initiating them. After all, the source of spam is not the operator, but another service user who violates the rights of other consumers. The Rules have provided operators with new opportunities to actively respond to subscribers' complaints about unwanted advertising ,” the operator explains.
Kyivstar expects that within 3 months from the date of entry into force of the Rules , it will be able to implement all necessary measures envisaged to streamline advertising activities using telecommunications networks.
"It is important to understand that the Rules establish obligations not only for operators, but also for users of electronic communication services. Each user must comply with the legislation and not violate the rights of other subscribers," the mobile operator emphasized.
Vodafone now has a "Suspicious Number" service that helps protect against unwanted calls and SMS from numbers that may be used for fraud. To do this, the operator uses its own algorithms to identify numbers and alpha names that may pose a threat to other subscribers, make malicious calls or send spam.
“If a subscriber is called from a number that Vodafone considers suspicious, calls and SMS from this number will be blocked. Vodafone will notify the subscriber about a blocked call or SMS from this number in a message from the “Vodafone” number. This service is paid, it can be activated via the My Vodafone application or using the USSD command 2071#,” the company explained to us.
New legislative regulations allow operators to block calls from certain numbers that make unwanted calls to the subscriber or send SMS with unnecessary information to the subscriber.
" The new Rules have been adopted, but will come into effect on October 2. Accordingly, we have time to make appropriate changes to the contractual documents ," Vodafone noted.
"Currently, we are still analyzing Resolution No. 761 "On Approval of the Rules for the Provision and Reception of Electronic Communication Services", which the government approved on June 25, 2025, and we are planning further steps to implement the updated rules," the lifecell press service briefly replied.
