Information
Over 1.2 million SMS messages have been delivered over satellite tv for pc for the reason that service’s launch final 12 months
Veon-owned Kyivstar says it has registered greater than 3 million customers for Starlink’s Direct to Cell (D2C) low-earth-orbit satellite tv for pc service for the reason that industrial launch on 24 November 2025.
The operator reported the service has delivered over 1.2 million SMS messages and that take-up has been strongest in Kyiv, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, and Dnipro. The service additionally offers “particularly important” assist to clients within the southern and japanese areas, the place terrestrial infrastructure is continuously broken or below restoration.
Protection explicitly excludes occupied areas, border areas, and lively fight zones, as a part of SpaceX’s efforts to keep up its standing as a civilian communications supplier.
The service is obtainable free to all Kyivstar 4G smartphone subscribers as a part of their common plans.
Kyivstar’s figures, launched in an organization assertion, imply roughly 19% of its 15.5 million 4G subscribers have registered for D2C.
“The speedy adoption of Starlink Direct to Cell providers by Kyivstar subscribers demonstrates the vital significance of enhancing Ukraine’s resilience and our clients’ appreciation for the supply of satellite-based connectivity,” mentioned Kaan Terzioğlu, VEON Group CEO and Govt Chairman of Kyivstar. “We’ll proceed to prepared the ground in offering modern providers that Ukraine must construct its digital future and in assembly the ever-growing demand of our clients for digital connectivity.”
The preliminary industrial rollout of Starlink’s D2C service is restricted to SMS, with voice and video providers to be added as a part of the constellation’s second technology of satellites, that are presently being launched.
The service is just accessible on Android gadgets, with iPhone customers with iPhone 13 and later fashions should await a forthcoming software program replace earlier than they’ll use the characteristic, Kyivstar mentioned.
Past Kyivstar, Veon can be making ready to launch Starlink’s D2C expertise in different markets. Veon’s subsidiary Beeline Kazakhstan, for instance, has accomplished area checks of the service forward of a deliberate industrial launch in that market throughout 2026, pending regulatory approval.
Maintain updated with all the newest telecoms information with the Complete Telecom publication
Additionally within the information
World Communication Award Winners 2025
Ofcom clears the way in which for satellite-to-smartphone providers
LG Uplus’s AI voice name app glitch leaks consumer knowledge
