Veon-owned Ukrainian telco Kyivstar said that it has registered over 3 million users for Starlink’s Direct to Cell (D2C) LEO satellite service since it commercially launched the service less than two months ago.
Kyivstar said the service – which currently only supports SMS – has delivered over 1.2 million text messages since the service was launched at the end of November 2025.
Kyivstar added that the D2C service has been most broadly used in Kyiv, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi and Dnipro, and has also proven especially vital in Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions, underscoring the crucial role of connectivity in these areas.
The telco is offering Starlink’s D2C service free of charge to all of its 15.5 million 4G smartphone users via their regular 4G subscription plans. At 3 million registrations, that means over 19% of Kyivstar’s 4G subscriber base is now using the service.
“The rapid adoption of Starlink Direct to Cell services by Kyivstar subscribers demonstrates the critical importance of enhancing Ukraine’s resilience and our customers’ appreciation for the availability of satellite-based connectivity,” said Kaan Terzioğlu, VEON group CEO and executive chairman of Kyivstar, in a statement.
The D2C service is currently only available to Android smartphone owners, as users with an iPhone 13 and later iPhone models have to wait for the next software update before they can use it. Service coverage doesn’t include occupied areas, border regions, and active combat zones.
Veon’s Beeline Kazakhstan completed a field test of Starlink D2C last month ahead of a planned commercial service launch in the country sometime this year.
