On August 16, the largest fixed Internet and telephony operator Ukrtelecom has announced the launch of technical modernisation in Zaporozhye. The company plans to install 390 new distribution cabinets in the city, replacing 92 obsolete automatic telephone exchanges of 1960-1990s. One of such automatic telephone exchanges located at Motostroiteley prospect was commissioned in 1868. In addition, Ukrtelecom will replace copper lines with fiber optics to build a high-speed 1,000-km long optic network. The investments in modernisation will total 500 million UAH and cover all districts of Zaporozhye.
As of beginning of H2 2016, there are about 170,000 Ukrtelecom subscribers in the city, with 33,000 being Ukrtelecom’s Internet users.
The modernisation program will provide higher internet speed (ADSL – 20 Mbit/s, VDSL – 50 Mbit/s) and access to new services such as digital telephony, interactive TV, cloud solutions and options to have fiber optic cables installed in apartments or offices (up to 1 Gbit/s) to both the existing and new customers.
Zaporozhye network is being upgraded as part of the biggest modernisation program in the Ukrtelecom’s history. In the middle of 2015, the company signed a number of agreements with China Development Bank and Huawei that provided financial and technical assistance to the company.
Total investments in the network upgrade will amount to $250 million up to 2018.
Over the first three years, Ukrtelecom plans to modernise the network in six big cities of Ukraine: Kiev, Zaporozhye, Kharkov, Odessa, Dnepr and Lvov.
The pilot project was implemented in Odessa. In May, Arcadia district of the city was fully connected to the new equipment. The average Internet speed increased by 133% (ADSL). (SCM Holding/Business World Magazine)
