Starlink to roll out direct-to-cell services in Ukraine (updated)

VEON

30/12/2024 10:02

(Adds details on the deal, context in Ukraine, paragraphs 2-10)
    By Gianluca Lo Nostro
       Dec 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine's leading mobile operator
Kyivstar has signed an agreement with Elon Musk's Starlink to
introduce direct-to-cell satellite connectivity, Kyivstar's
parent company VEON  VEON.O  said on Monday.
    Direct-to-cell devices are connected to satellites equipped
with modems that function like a cellphone tower, beaming phone
signals from space directly to smartphones.
    Kyivstar expects direct-to-cell services with messaging
functionality to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2025,
the telecoms group said in a joint statement. The operator will
expand voice and data services in later stages.
    Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
    SpaceX-owned Starlink, which also provides critical internet
connectivity to war-torn Ukraine and its military, launched its
first set of satellites with direct-to-cell capabilities earlier
this year.
    The satellite broadband firm has struck deals with local
providers for direct-to-cell services in the U.S. and seven
other countries, including Japan and New Zealand.
        Ukraine will be one of the first countries in the world
with direct-to-cell connectivity and the first conflict zone
where Starlink will roll out this technology, according to its
website.
    Russia has ramped up its efforts to jam signals between
Starlink satellites and ground terminals in Ukraine since 2022.
    The agreement comes as Musk, Starlink's owner, grows more
engaged with the incoming Trump administration in the U.S. and
its Ukraine strategy. 
    In November, he joined a call between President-elect Donald
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which he
said he would continue supplying Starlink satellites to Ukraine,
Axios reported.

 (Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
and Ros Russell)
 ((gianluca.lonostro@thomsonreuters.com;))