Ukraine to establish a military mobile operator as an alternative to Starlink

Ukraine is establishing a mobile operator for the Armed Forces to provide communication on the front lines in case Starlink is shut down. This was reported by Ekonomichna Pravda, citing the Ministry of Digital Transformation and telecom industry representatives.

On 29 January, the Ministry of Digital Transformation sent a draft amendment to the radio frequency allocation plan to the National Commission, which regulates electronic communications, radio frequencies, and postal services. In addition, the draft allows the Armed Forces of Ukraine to create private secure 4G/5G networks. These networks can be used to transmit data or set up voice communication using VoLTE.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation explained that representatives of the General Staff had approached them with this proposal. The General Staff and the Ministry of Defence will be responsible for organising such communications and choosing a model: a virtual operator with separate settings, operating on civilian communications infrastructure, or a completely isolated system requiring its own equipment.

Ekonomichna Pravda claims that the state asked representatives of the “big three” mobile operators to join the project. In particular, they are to assist with the supply of base stations.

At the same time, telecommunications expert Roman Khimich claims that departmental 4G/5G networks will not fully replace Starlink – only another satellite group can do that. In addition, it could take years to build an operator, and the stationary infrastructure will become a target for the Russians.