Communication during blackouts: why did mobile operators fail to comply with the requirements of the National Center for Telecommunications?
Kyiv • UNN
Despite billions of dollars in investments, Ukrainian operators have failed to meet the NCCU's requirement for 10 hours of operation of base stations without electricity. Operators promise to improve in the first and second quarters of 2025.
Despite billions of dollars in investments in energy independence, Ukrainian mobile operators Kyivstar, Vodafone, and lifecell failed to fully comply with the requirement of the National Center for Operational and Technical Management of Telecommunications Networks (NCM) to operate base stations without electricity for 10 hours. This was reported by Forbes Ukraine, according to UNN.
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“Most of our base stations have batteries, but it is impossible to ensure their operation for 10 hours,” says a top manager of a Ukrainian mobile operator, who spoke anonymously to Forbes Ukraine due to the sensitivity of the topic.
“We are trying to reach a compromise with the state regarding the operation of blackouts,” adds an interlocutor from another operator.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Kyivstar has reportedly invested more than UAH 2.3 billion in energy independence, Vodafone Ukraine - UAH 2 billion, lifecell - UAH 1.5 billion, according to the operators' press services.
They did not specify the data for the last six months, when the National Center for the National Security and Defense of Ukraine demanded it.
As you know, Vodafone Ukraine has provided backup power to 65% of its base stations, which can operate without electricity for 4 to 72 hours.
Kyivstar has installed more than 197,000 batteries as of January 2025, but does not disclose how many stations are equipped with generators.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Kyivstar has more than tripled the network's resilience,” the press service adds.
Lifecell has provided autonomous power supplies for the entire network, but they operate from 4 to 8 hours depending on the load.
Starting February 1, Kyivstar, Vodafone and lifecell operators were supposed to work for 10 hours without power. However, this condition was not met.
“We are fulfilling the requirement for the number of generators and batteries, just with a delay,” says a top manager of a Ukrainian mobile operator. “In the second quarter, the lion's share of our stations will operate for 6-8 hours,” he adds.
In the first and second quarters, we will make a significant breakthrough as soon as the batteries ordered earlier arrive,
However, meeting the 10-hour battery life requirement will not be easy. “It's a very high bar,” says one of the interlocutors.
If a competitor's batteries run out, the load from their station falls on ours, which reduces our operating time,
He also emphasized that operators also need higher power supply lines to charge batteries quickly.
Recall
In July 2024, the National Center for Telecommunications obliged Ukrainian mobile operators to provide backup power to 100% of their base stations by the end of January 2025.