HiTech.Expert

Ukrtelecom, Ukraine's biggest telecommunication company, on January 13 started test operation of a digital television service for subscribers to the OGO! broadband internet access, reads a statement made by the company. Subscribers whose rate of ADSL connection line is not less than 7 Mbps can take part in the testing. They offer 27 channels for watching (the television content is provided by the National Content Center limited liability company). During the test operation subscriber fees are not charged. As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the number of to the OGO! broadband internet rose 5.5% to 1 million in the third quarter of 2010. Ukrtelecom suffered a loss of UAH 456.426 million in 2009, when its net revenue increased by UAH 225.202 million or 3.39% to UAH 6,870.931 million compared with 2008.

The Kyivstar telecommunication operator has introduced from December 30 an opportunity of seven-day delay in monthly payments for subscribers to Home Internet. The service is designed for subscribers who cannot replenish their accounts for different reasons. The service is free for subscription. As Ukrainian News earlier reported, in the third quarter of 2010 the number of subscribers to the broadband Internet of Kyivstar and Beeline was 226,200. Kyivstar reported a profit of NOK 5.1 billion for the year 2009, when its net revenues reduced by NOK 4.787 billion or 34.6% to NOK 9.047 billion compared with 2008.

Datagroup, a telecommunication company based in Kyiv, from December 1 increased internet access rates for Home Telecom subscribers from 512 kbps — 40 Mbps to 2 Mbps — 100 Mbps, reads a statement made by Datagroup. Thus, for Home Telecom subscribers, who have ADSL connection to the internet, access rate is extended from 512 kbps — 4 Mbps to 2 Mbps — 24 Mbps, and for the Ethernet connection from 5 Mbps — 40 Mbps to 50 Mbps — 100 Mbps. The company specifies, it will switch its ADSL subscribers over to new tariff plans. The switchover principle lies in the subscriber retaining the current subscriber fee at higher access rate. Moreover, the company elucidates, for the Ethernet subscribers specifically it will reduce subscriber fees for access to the internet at the highest rate. This means that if before the monthly subscriber fee for access to the internet at the rate of 40 Mbps made UAH 200, then from December 1 the maximum possible access rate will raise to 100 Mbps and the subscriber fee will reduce to UAH 100 a month. In the tariff packages the volume of incoming and outgoing traffic is unlimited, connection costs UAH 1.2 (VAT inclusive). As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Datagroup in November introduced payment for services via the WebMoney system of online payments for the Home Telecom subscribers. Datagroup from September provides internet access service to private subscribers under the Home Telecom brand name. At the moment it offers the service in 22 towns (about 45,000 subscribers). Datagroup was created through the merger of several telecommunications companies in the city of Kyiv and provinces. The company has its own nationwide DWDM fiber-optic data transfer network and an MPLS multimedia network built on its basis. The MPLS network allows transmission of voice, data, and images to the end users — corporate and private subscribers. Several individuals (including its founder Oleksandr Kardakov) manage the company. Horizon Capital, a private equity firm, in August acquired a minority stake in Datagroup for USD 40 million.

The Ukrainian High Technologies company, the FreshTel brand, intends to cover about 14-15 cities with WiMAX network in 2011, Olena Minich, the president of the company, told the Ukrainian News agency. Minich did not name the cities, however, she pointed out that it will be regional centers, and cities with population of up to 200,000 people. As Ukrainian News earlier reported, in October, the National Communications Regulation Commission has provided the Ukrainian High Technologies company, which renders services under the brand of FreshTel, with a license for additional frequencies for radio-relay communication in 10 regions and Crimea until 2025. Ukrainian High Technologies is an operator of wireless communications services based on the WiMAX technology. The company's network in the 802.16d standard operates in the 3.4-3.6 giga-hertz frequency band. The company launched commercial operation of a new network based on the Mobile WiMAX technology (the IEEE 802.16e standard) under the FreshTel brand name in January 2010.

Volia, a provider of telecommunication services, from November 1 introduced unlimited internet packages Volia Drive and Volia Expert.