Kyivstar signs Rakuten Symphony Open RAN deal

Ukrainian telco Kyivstar has signed a new deal to procure and deploy Rakuten Symphony's Open RAN technology in its network. A letter of intent has been signed by the companies to show that Rakuten would be the preferred partner for Kyivstar's eventual 5G rollout.

"I share the excitement of our Kyivstar team, under the leadership of Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov, in working with Rakuten to rebuild the country’s infrastructure with Open RAN as a part of this commitment," said Terizoglu. "We have a shared passion for building Ukraine’s digital future and I’m glad to see the progress in our joint effort.”

Last year, Stanislav Prybytko, director general of the directorate for mobile broadband for Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation mentioned that the country’s 5G buildout has been put on hold due to the war. He said, "It's currently not safe to carry out scientific research, so we need to wait until the end of the war, and only then will it be practical to start. But still, we don't want to waste this time. We are in the process of negotiations with our military services to launch a 5G pilot next year."