On Monday local time, VEON, the parent company of Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, announced that it had signed a cooperation agreement with Musk’s SpaceX to provide Starlink satellite direct-to-cell (DTC) services to the country at war.
The new deal will extend mobile network coverage to areas where Ukraine's critical communications infrastructure has been severely damaged by massive Russian drone and missile attacks. This would be a major help to civilians, as many residents rely on cellphone alerts to receive information about impending attacks.
SpaceX launched its direct-connect mobile phone service last year and is currently promoting it on a limited basis in several countries around the world. The agreement with Kyivstar will make Ukraine one of the first countries to implement direct satellite connectivity to mobile phones across the country.
However, the service is not expected to be launched until the fourth quarter of next year at the earliest. It will initially support text messages and OTT messages, and will later be expanded to voice and data services. The company did not disclose the details of the agreement between the two parties.
SpaceX is deploying Starlink satellites with direct connection to mobile phones on a large scale. After these satellites enter orbit, they will be able to connect to the Starlink constellation through inter-satellite laser links to provide global connectivity. Musk has previously said: "While this is a great solution for areas without cellular network connectivity, it is not very competitive with existing terrestrial cellular networks."
Last month, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FTC) approved Musk's company to cooperate with T-Mobile to provide mobile networks in areas not covered by terrestrial networks.
Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov said: "Kyivstar has been a critical force in Ukraine throughout the war and we are committed to sparing no effort to keep connections open. Our cooperation with Starlink is a breakthrough in achieving our goal of 'LTE network services everywhere'."
VEON CEO Kaan Terzioglu said in a statement that Starlink's services will "leverage satellite technology to significantly increase the resiliency of our services" and serve more than 23 million mobile users.
Ukraine's infrastructure, including telecommunications networks, power grids and other critical networks, is regularly attacked by Russian forces. Portable Starlink terminals have played a vital role in military operations in Ukraine over the past few years. Early in the war, the United States shipped thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine, and Musk offered free use of the system.
However, as the cost of the service increased, Musk threatened to cut off funding and limit its use. In August 2024, the Pentagon renewed its contract with SpaceX to provide network services to Ukraine until 2025 to ensure that 3,000 terminal devices can continue to operate.