Ukrainian, European telecom operators sign new agreement on affordable roaming service
MOSCOW. Feb 3 (Interfax) - Seven Ukrainian fixed-line and mobile telecommunications operators, namely, Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine, lifecell, Ukrtelecom, Data Group, Vega Telecom Group, and 3Mob, and 20 of their European counterparts have signed a Joint Statement to coordinate efforts to provide Ukrainians in the European Union with affordable roaming service under the auspices of the European Commission and with support of the National Commission for the State Regulation of Electronic Communications, Radiofrequency Spectrum and the Provision of Postal Services (NCEC).
Ukrainian media outlets reported citing the NCEC that the statement regulates the conditions under which 4.9 million Ukrainians, who are currently staying in the EU member states, could use affordable roaming services. Those benefits also apply to Ukrainians travelling to the EU for a short period of time, the statement said.
According to media outlets, the new statement is a follow-up of the agreements reached as part of the previous Joint Statement signed on April 8, 2022, which was in effect for the past nine months. The implementation of the agreement's provisions enabled Ukrainian telecom operators to provide their subscribers with affordable roaming services at least in 25 EU member states and cover the countries which are not members of the EU.
According NCEC, in July-December 2022, the number of subscribers who used roaming services fluctuated between 3.9 million and 4.4 million a month. At the same time, the monthly voice traffic in international roaming of one subscriber on the average increased from 17 minutes to 52 minutes. The monthly Internet traffic consumption in international roaming grew from 474 Mb to 3 Gb on the average per one user, which, as the NCEC noted, proves that the services became more accessible for Ukrainian subscribers.
The NCEC also said that Ukraine is continuing negotiations on joining the EU's single roaming space as part of the Roam like Home policy, and the agreements should be finalized in the near future.