Vodafone Ukraine has held its first 5G trials this month.
The telco has paired with Finnish vendor Nokia to carry out the trials during the Action Forum 2024.
Rebuilding Ukraine’s telecoms infrastructure amid war
Plans to modernize the country’s networks have been delayed, but 5G could be on its way
The test was confirmed by Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, in a post on Telegram.
"In Ukraine, 5G was launched in test mode for the first time. Promprilad Innovation Center in Ivano-Frankivsk, Vodafone office in Kyiv, as well as Nokia office in Helsinki called using 5G and checked the quality of communication," he said.
Further details about the tests are unknown, although Fierce Wireless reports that the test used Nokia’s 5G AirScale Indoor Radio with the AWHQA radio module, which supports the mid-band 3.5 GHz n77 band.
"5G was tested several times earlier in Ukraine in ‘laboratory’ conditions," a Vodafone spokesperson confirmed to DCD.
"The significance of our trial in May 2024 is that the conditions are as close as possible to reality: this time Vodafone Ukraine and Nokia launched fragments of a real network: traffic goes through billing; we study how the network interferes with other networks nearby, how far the real coverage can reach, what is user’s behavior and so on."
The telco noted that attendees at the event witnessed a synchronous concert performed by two musical ensembles located 600 km apart.
"The Eclectic Sound Orchestra performed on the roof of Vodafone's office in Kyiv, while the female vocal group Spivochi performed on the stage of Promprylad in Ivano-Frankivsk," Vodafone said.
As of yet, none of Ukraine's telecom companies have launched 5G services.
Stanislav Prybytko, director general of the directorate for mobile broadband for Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation, previously told DCD that the country had been poised to launch the service in 2022, before Russia invaded.
