# Kyivstar

Kyivstar (Ukrainian: Київстар) is a Ukrainian telecommunications company, providing communication services and data transmission based on a broad range of fixed and mobile technologies, including 4G (LTE) services, in Ukraine. The Kyivstar mobile network covers all cities of Ukraine, as well as more than 28,000 rural settlements, all major national and regional routes, most sea, and river coasts. As of 2024, Kyivstar is the largest mobile operator and one of the largest broadband Internet providers in Ukraine, serving about 24 million mobile customers and more than 1 million fixed broadband internet customers ("Home Internet").

## History

PJSC Kyivstar was founded and registered in Ukraine in 1994 and has been providing mobile services since 1997. The company's head office is located in Kyiv. Kyivstar is a part of the international telecom group VEON.
In 2016, Kyivstar was one of 29 Ukrainian companies ranked by U.S. consulting group Deloitte among the 500 largest companies in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2020, Kyivstar became the most expensive brand in Ukraine according to Korrespondent magazine, and the best employer in Ukraine in the TOP-100 rating. It was also rated the largest Company of the Year in mobile communication. According to the results of 2020 and 2021 Kyivstar is the largest taxpayer in Ukraine among the companies in the field of communications and information.
Oleksandr Komarov has been the President of the company since December 2018.

## During the Russian invasion of Ukraine

From February 24, 2022, from the beginning of a new stage of Russian military aggression against Ukraine, Kyivstar implemented a package of measures to support society and subscribers. The company provided customers with free communication services, allocated UAH 15 million for charity and paid more than UAH 1 billion in taxes ahead of schedule.
For prepaid subscribers:
* Calls within the network for 21.5 million subscribers work with zero on the account and without paid tariff.
* Subscribers can use the Extra money service for ordering additional funds to account with no commission.
For contract subscribers and business clients:
* Kyivstar has increased credit limits so that customers can use basic services without topping up their accounts.
* For business customers with fixed services (internet, telephony and data transmission), the payment deadlines for their bills are delayed by 30 days.
* Kyivstar provided Star.Docs electronic document management service free of charge to businesses and government organizations.
For subscribers in roaming:
* Kyivstar provided an extra UAH 250 as a bonus for calls and mobile internet abroad. Bonuses are awarded to all subscribers who are forced to leave for one of 9 European countries: Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, or the Czech Republic. Over 1.4 million subscribers have already received these bonuses in the first 2 weeks.
For Home Internet and Kyivstar TV customers:
* The company provided the opportunity to use fixed Internet at speeds up to 80 Mbit/s to subscribers without the possibility of paying a bill.
* Kyivstar provided free Wi-Fi in more than 200 bomb shelters throughout Ukraine.
* The company opened access to most of the content on the Kyivstar TV online television platform. Also, subscribers of other mobile operators have free access to news channels and children's content.
Kyivstar actively supports the state and Ukrainian society, the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
* The company transferred UAH 1.1 billion of income tax to the state budget ahead of schedule.
* The company allocated ₴10 million of charitable assistance for the Come Back Alive charity fund and 5 million for the NGO “Your Support” (Твоя опора, Tvoya opora).
* The company has created a platform to raise funds for the needs of the Ukrainian army. With the short number 88009, Kyivstar subscribers collected more than UAH 1.2 million in the first two weeks of the platform's existence.
Kyivstar, in cooperation with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, sent out more than 150 million SMS messages with vital information, in particular, about actions during an air raid alert, first aid, etc.
In the first quarter of 2022, Kyivstar invested UAH 659 million in communication development. And thanks to the round-the-clock work of the company's specialists, 95% of the base stations of the telecom network work in normal mode. During the war, the company built more than 100 new mobile communication facilities and connected 1,150 bomb shelters in various cities of Ukraine to the free Internet.
Kyivstar, together with other mobile operators, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, the National Commission for State Regulation in the Fields of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum and Postal Services, together with the Ukrainian Association of Telecom Operators "Telas", launched national roaming.
On December 12, 2023, Kyivstar experienced a significant service outage, which its CEO, Oleksandr Komarov, attributed to a powerful Russian cyberattack. This attack, described as one of the largest against a civilian communications system, disrupted both phone and internet access for millions in Ukraine and involved efforts to destroy the company's virtual infrastructure.

## Network

The company use six network codes: 67, 68, 77, 96, 97 and 98.