On New Year's Eve, mobile operator Kyivstar signed an agreement with Elon Musk's Starlink and will provide subscribers with the Direct to Cell satellite communication service.
On New Year's Eve, mobile operator Kyivstar signed an agreement with Elon Musk's Starlink and will provide subscribers with the Direct to Cell satellite communication service.
Kyivstar's agreement with Starlink to implement Direct to Cell satellite communication is designed for three years with automatic extension, Forbes writes , citing a source familiar with the matter, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the topic.
At the same time, last year, the telecommunications holding Veon, which owns the largest mobile network in Ukraine, Kyivstar, signed an agreement with the British company OneWeb to integrate the company's satellite services with its terrestrial network in Ukraine.
What happened to the collaboration with the British OneWeb? It didn’t go beyond a few pilots, the source told the publication. “After that, there was no progress,” he added.
The operator agreed on commercial cooperation with Starlink six months ago, the source said. The operator's press service declined to comment on the details of the partnership, citing an NDA.
The Direct to Cell communication service may be intended primarily for frontline areas, specialized telecom experts told the publication. A potential obstacle is that the enemy may use Direct to Cell communication. To avoid such a scenario, mandatory identification can be introduced for all new connections.
The use cases of the technology can be different - both communication in frontline areas and in the forest while hunting. It is also a solution for remote regions or areas where there is no network coverage.
The operator may sell such a connection as a separate service, since not everyone needs it, experts tell the publication. A decision on this may be made by the end of the second quarter of 2025. Calls and Internet via Direct to Cell may appear in Ukraine in early 2026, the source adds: "This depends on the deployment of the satellite constellation that supports this technology. The company plans to double it."
It is not a fact that the partnership with Starlink will yield profits, the publication's interlocutor believes. "The social component will dominate this case," he says.
Recall, on December 30, 2024, it became known that Kyivstar signed an agreement with Starlink to implement Direct to Cell technology in Ukraine. It provides mobile communication via satellite to any smartphone that supports 4G.
It was previously reported that the satellite operator Starlink, owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, plans to launch a Direct to Cell service , which will allow you to transmit text and voice messages, as well as share files from standard 4G LTE smartphones via a satellite connection.
In January, SpaceX launched Starlink satellites capable of connecting directly to mobile devices. The company later successfully sent the first text messages via Starlink satellites to phones using T-Mobile's network.
Interestingly, last year, the telecommunications holding company Veon, which owns the largest mobile network in Ukraine, Kyivstar, signed an agreement with the British company OneWeb to integrate the company's satellite services with its terrestrial network in Ukraine.
Each OneWeb terminal can connect hundreds of people and can run on solar power. OneWeb has about 550 low-orbit satellites and plans to launch dozens more through Musk's SpaceX.
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