By Ukraine Rebuild News Staff
Veon, which owns the biggest telecoms firm in Ukraine, has agreed to consider working with Japanese telecoms firm Rakuten Symphony to rebuild and upgrade the Ukrainian infrastructure after the war to push for open radio access networks (ORAN) that can deliver 5G services.
“The two companies commit to creating ‘a robust and future-proof telecommunications infrastructure’ that can seamlessly deliver high-speed connectivity enhanced with 5G, enabling the next generation of digital services in Ukraine,” the firms said in a press release.
Veon, which owns Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecoms provider, said in June that it would spend USD 600 million over the next three years on infrastructure to bring 4G coverage to 98% of Ukraine, ensure connectivity throughout Ukraine and move toward a “5G-focused reconstruction.” Kyivstar’s 4,000 employees serve 24.3 million mobile and 1.1 million fixed-line users.
Rakuten Symphony is a proponent globally of ORAN technology, which promotes interoperability among radio access network (RAN) components for infrastructure such as base stations and antennas. Rakuten Symphony, which has opened an “Open RAN Customer Experience Center” in the UK to advocate adoption of ORAN in Europe, says the technology would lower
