This year, Kyivstar is preparing to take another step into the future – the company plans to launch new services based on Starlink satellite Internet. Initially, access will be limited, but over time, the technology will expand to include new use cases, higher speeds, and wider coverage. This is just the beginning of a major transformation, and Ukraine will be the first to experience it.
According to the official statement of the company’s CEO, the first stage of implementation will involve the use of OTT services (Over-The-Top) for messaging, in particular through platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal, and other similar messengers. This stage is expected to be implemented by the end of this year. In the long term, tentatively in the beginning or during the second quarter of 2026, the company plans to launch a full-fledged mobile satellite broadband service that will include both data transmission and voice traffic support.
Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov emphasized the increased resilience of Ukraine’s telecommunications infrastructure in the face of martial law and regular air attacks. According to him, compared to the situation three years ago, when massive communication outages were recorded as a result of shelling, significant progress has been made in ensuring the continuity of telecommunications services even in emergency situations.
In 2022, Starlink and the American mobile operator T-Mobile reached an agreement to implement satellite communications directly through devices compatible with 5G NR (New Radio) technology. In 2025, Apple integrated basic support for Starlink at the level of the mobile operating system – the corresponding functionality was implemented in the iOS 18.3 update. At the same time, another leading operator, Verizon, has started providing satellite services through a partnership with Skylo, but these services are not currently supported by iPhone devices.
The launch of Starlink mobile internet in Ukraine is not only a technological innovation but also a strategic step towards digital autonomy and resilience of communications in wartime. For the first time in Europe, satellite broadband Internet is being transformed into a mobile format with support for OTT services and, later, full-fledged voice communications.
Ukraine’s participation in the implementation of such innovations demonstrates its ability to be a testbed for advanced technologies on a global scale. It also opens up new horizons for the development of critical infrastructure, civilian communications, and military tactical communications based on new generation satellite systems.
In the future, such solutions could fundamentally change the approach to Internet mobility, especially in regions with unstable land infrastructure. Ukraine has once again demonstrated that future technologies can be implemented even in the most difficult conditions.
