Mobile operator Lifecell LLC (lifecell brand), part of the DVL group of companies (Datagroup-Volia-lifecell), will shut down its third-generation (3G) network in a number of populated areas in 17 regions of Ukraine starting September 3 and switch the respective regions to 4G/LTE technology.
According to a lifecell release on Friday, the 3G network will be shut down in Zhytomyr region and Mykolaiv region (except the city of Mykolaiv), as well as in another 468 populated areas in Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhia, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Kharkiv, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions.
"Network optimization in these populated areas and the expansion of 4G (LTE) to the maximum 20 MHz bandwidth will take place over several weeks after the 3G shutdown without interruption of services for subscribers," the operator explained.
According to the company, 88% of its service users in these populated areas already have smartphones and SIM cards supporting 4G (LTE), while about 9% of subscribers use 2G devices, for which the 3G shutdown will result in no changes.
The operator lifecell recalled that the mobile operator had already carried out such an upgrade in a number of regions of Ukraine, and as a result, after the 3G shutdown and expansion of the 4G (LTE) bandwidth, average mobile internet speeds increased by approximately 20%-30%.
As reported, Lifecell completed the shutdown of its third-generation network throughout Ternopil region, including the regional center, on July 2 and switched the region to 4G/LTE technology.
In May, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, Kyivstar, said that starting August 18 this year, 3G technology would be shut down in a number of populated areas in some Ukrainian regions, with frequencies in its spectrum being reassigned in favor of 4G.
At the time, Kyivstar said that 4G would completely replace 3G in Dnipropetrovsk region (Kryvy Rih and Kryvy Rih district), Ivano-Frankivsk region (Horodenka, Dolyna, Sniatyn, Verkhovyna, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kalush districts) and Khmelnytsky region (Dunaivtsi, Krasyliv, Netishyn, Polonne, Starokostiantyniv, Khmelnytsky, Kamianets-Podilsky and Shepetivka districts).
According to data from the National Commission for the State Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services (NCEC), the top three companies in Ukraine by telecommunications service revenue in January-March 2026, by a significant margin, were mobile operators: PrJSC Kyivstar – UAH 12.08 billion; PrJSC VF Ukraine (Vodafone Ukraine brand) – UAH 6.69 billion; and Lifecell LLC (lifecell brand), part of the DVL group – UAH 4.18 billion.
Source: https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/economic/1196836.html
