"In Ukraine, good internet is where it exists." An interview with the telecommunications regulator.

In May 2025, the Ukrainian National Commission for Electronic Communications (NCEC) received a new leader for the first time in 11 years. The main arbiter for market Liliia Malion, who has been working at the National Commission since 2012, became the person responsible for over 154 billion UAH. Since 2016, she has personally been involved in the integration of Ukraine into the European roaming space, which is finally supposed to happen on January 1, 2026 – and this is somewhat worrying for Ukrainian mobile operators.

"I could write a memoir about roaming," admits Malyon. But this is not the only project that the National Commission plans to implement in the coming years. It is attracting international funding for most of them, because it receives only half of the required 400 million hryvnias from the budget. "The regulator must be financially independent and capable," notes the head of the National Commission for Regulation of the Telecommunications Market.

What the regulator spends budget and donor funds on, how it will protect operators from abusive use of roaming by subscribers, and when 5G will be launched in Ukraine – read in the interview.

"A regulator of the most European type." How the National Energy and Commodity Regulatory Commission will work under Malyon.

You were appointed to the position after Oleksandr Zhyvotovskyi, who headed the NCEC for 11 years. How long will you be the head?

I was not appointed as the head of the National Commission for the Regulation of the Energy Market – I was elected by the members of the commission. I emphasize this because it is a first. This event put the provisions into effect legislative reforms of the industry since 2022. They have significantly changed both the rules of the game in the market and the image of the NERC (National Energy and Commodity Regulatory Commission). Now it is a regulator of the most European type.

According to the old law, the chairman and seven members of the commission were appointed separately. According to the new law, all seven members of the commission are selected through a competition, and then they choose the chairman among themselves.

Regarding terms of office, previously the head and members of the commission were appointed for six years. Now it's for three years, with the possibility of re-election for another three. However, the current composition of the commission is transitional, from the old to the new legislation. My term as a member of the commission expires in July 2027. Accordingly, my term as head of the NCEC will also expire in two years.

What goals do you want to achieve during this period?

I have been working at the regulator for 13 years, and since 2021, I have been a member of the commission in Oleksandr Zhyvotovsky's team. Therefore, I would like to move away from personal matters. We are building an institution – strong, stable, consistent, and predictable, which does not change with the vision of new leadership.

I say this because in 2021 I was one of the initiators of the launch of medium-term planning. Back then, we approved it for the first time strategic The priorities of the National Commission for the Regulation of the Energy Market for 2024-2026 are the framework within which priority tasks have been formulated. This includes synchronizing legislation with the European Union – not just roaming, but a whole range of legal acts. And gigabit infrastructure – both restoration and new coverage.

What specifically do you plan to implement in the near future?

I hope that, within the framework of cooperation with donors, we will soon start working on three major projects. One of them will be aimed at developing an Electronic Regulatory Platform (ERP) – a large software system that will digitize the registers of the National Energy and Mineral Resources Commission (NEMRC) and various tools for suppliers and consumers.

The front end of the ERP will be ours website. We will create online accounts on it, through which consumers will be able to send complaints to the regulator and requests for public information. We also plan to add a price comparison tool to them. It will allow users to specify the parameters of the desired service, for example, fixed-line internet in a specific location with a certain speed and cost. The tool will analyze all possible offers and provide a summary of the best ones.

Also, within the ERP, a "single window" will be developed for interaction between the regulator, suppliers, and consumers – a Single Information Point (SIP). It will provide information about infrastructure – both existing and under construction – and allow users to request [physical] access from the administrator. This will help avoid duplication of communication lines and reduce infrastructure deployment costs.

How much funding does the NECC need for these plans?

For 2025, the commission approved a budget requirement of 386 million UAH. This includes operating expenses and development, including the creation of "tools". During the formation of the state budget, the Ministry of Finance approved funding for us that is half the required amount – 178 million UAH.

Therefore, the National Center for Environmental Protection works with financial donors – mostly the European Union. The ERP donor assessed the project at €1.4 million. We have already secured them.

However, the budget includes funds for monitoring the quality of communication. This year, we will check the quality of services in 1132 settlements and on 29 international roads passing through 19 regions.

Also, for the first time, the National Commission for the Regulation of the Telecommunications Market will monitor compliance with the licensing conditions for the use of radio frequencies for 4G, which we granted in 2024. These are 2100, 2300 and 2600 MHz. The deployment of the network in settlements with more than 2000 inhabitants will be checked.

"Roaming will affect tariff plans. But I believe in competition."

From January 1, 2026, Ukraine will become part of the European roaming space "Roaming like at home". (Roaming Like At Home, abbreviated as RLAH). What will change for the consumer and the provider?

The basic principle is that all services within your tariff plan that you use in Ukraine will also be available abroad..

Example: After paying for your tariff plan, you received, for example, 100 minutes of voice calls per month, and you used 50 minutes in Ukraine in two weeks. Then, when you go abroad, you will be able to use the remaining 50 minutes until the end of the monthly plan without connecting any additional services. The same applies to SMS and mobile internet.

There are also a number of bonuses:

• The mobile operator will not be able to reduce the quality of services in roaming. For example, if a subscriber in Ukraine used 4G coverage and it is physically available in the country of stay, then the operator cannot provide you with 3G coverage. But it can provide higher quality services, such as 5G.
• The operator must constantly monitor the subscriber's consumption and warn if they have reached 80% of their tariff limit. They will also notify the subscriber if they accidentally enter roaming territory at the border or in an area with satellite base stations.
• The consumer must have free access to calls to emergency services in the country of residence.

Protection for operators is also provided – against abusive consumption of services in roaming. For example, if a subscriber usually talks on the phone for 100 minutes a month, but abroad suddenly increases their communication to 200 minutes. Then the service provider can clarify the reasons and apply an additional charge. This is done so that roaming is not a painful and unprofitable experience for operators.

Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov said: He stated that the introduction of "Roaming Like at Home" will be painful for mobile operators. According to his estimate, operators are losing 3-4 billion hryvnias in foreign currency revenue annually due to the reduction in the "call termination" rate that Ukrainian mobile operators charge foreign operators.

Indeed, the basis of roaming is the termination rate. Currently, it is unregulated in Ukraine, but from January 1st its maximum level will be, as in the EU – 0.2 euro cents per minute (€0.002 – Ed.). However, one cannot only talk about lost revenue without looking at the whole picture. The regulated tariff is symmetrical for both Ukrainian and foreign operators. This means that the reduction in operators' revenue will be equal to the reduction in costs.

It is important to mention the common ground here statement Ukrainian and European mobile operators from 8 April In 2022. This was the first step to ensure stable communication for Ukrainians who were forced to leave the country.

One of its ideas was that by the time of joining the European roaming space, the termination fees of Ukrainian operators would be equal to those of European operators. Even if we disregard the absolutely tragic year of 2022, the operators had at least three years to gradually approach European fees in order to avoid the shock effect from the introduction of regulation.

Komarov predicted that "Roaming like at Home" would result in reduced service limits within tariff packages. Should we expect this?

There will be some changes in tariff plans. Operators must at least add packages to their lineup that include the service. But from the experience of the EU, when RLAH was first launched there, some tariff plans didn't have roaming at all. It was assumed that a certain category of people never travel abroad.

Within the tariff itself, the regulator does not influence the process – the operators themselves will determine its configuration. However, the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NERC) will monitor to ensure there is no discrimination. The domestic tariff must be equal to roaming, and all subscribers who are transferred to other tariff conditions must be notified in advance and give their consent.

Will the tariff plans be revised to reduce the number of minutes and gigabytes of internet?

I strongly believe in competition. Whoever offers the most attractive conditions for the subscriber will win. I am convinced that operators should not think about what to restrict, but how to give the best offer to the consumer.

We also do not expect any increase in roaming rates. It is already happening systematically without any accompanying factors.

How much have they gone up in price lately?

In the first quarter of 2025, we saw an increase in retail tariffs of more than 29% compared to the first quarter of 2024.

Where is there internet in Ukraine?

From October 1, 2024, individual entrepreneurs providing fixed-line internet services will be prohibited from operating under the simplified taxation system. The Verkhovna Rada Tax Committee believes, that this is necessary to combat the fragmentation of large players. In the Internet Association of Ukraine (IAU) they claim / they state / they say, stating that due to the ban, the industry lost 328,000 subscribers and 1 billion UAH in revenue. Has the number of providers and subscribers in Ukraine really decreased?

Currently, we can comment on changes as of the first quarter of 2025 compared to the second quarter of 2024. During this period, we recorded a decrease in the number of electronic service providers registered with us and submitting reports: from 4021 to 3776. Of the latter figure, fixed-line internet providers account for 3330.

We are currently preparing comprehensive analytics for the first half of 2025: broken down by locality and penetration rate, and how the number of suppliers is changing. It will be much more informative than the quarterly data.

Did the FOP story influence the decline?

There could be many reasons. The decrease may be explained by the temporary occupation of territories, or a reduction in the number of entities in our register that decided to submit reports.

Importantly, this decrease only indicates concentration. The number of internet lines connected to households decreased by only over 200,000 – from 8.49 million to 8.23 million. This difference is within the margin of statistical error – 3%. It may be negated by the results of the half-year period.

The Internet Association of Ukraine (IAU) says that the pressure on individual entrepreneurs providing internet services will reduce the potential for the development of fixed-line internet in villages. Is this true?

Small settlements are historically more attractive to very local providers. However, according to available statistics, we do not see a decline in fixed internet coverage in villages. On the contrary, although minimal, there is growth. Also, according to our data, in the first quarter of 2025, the number of lines connected to rural households by individual entrepreneurs increased by 10,000 to 2.33 million.

The Cabinet of Ministers has set a goal to achieve 98% coverage with high-quality mobile communication by 2030. What is the current situation?

Our 4G coverage is quite good. However, the average value differs across the country and by region. Certain territories have no coverage at all. Therefore, the overall coverage in Ukraine is about 82%. In regions where hostilities are ongoing, it's 94%. In other regions, it's 99%.

The same applies to fixed-line internet. In 2024, the average rate, taking into account the temporarily occupied territories, was 57%. But we have a very good rate for fiber optics, even compared to European countries – 88%. Therefore, where we have internet, it is good.

And how many don't have it?

Using a new tool – geographic surveying – we identify settlements where mobile or fixed internet should theoretically be available, but isn't. This year we identified almost 6,000 such places. This is done so that we can then offer small providers the opportunity to go there. There is a corresponding grant program. Internet subsidies from the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Is it true that it will not be possible to fully introduce 5G in Ukraine before the end of the war?

Launching 5G is a very complex technical process. The service requires previously unused spectrum frequencies. Their value must be determined, which in most cases requires research and development. Compatibility with special users must also be proven. Then, licensing conditions must be developed, and finally, preparations must be made for an auction.

We are working with colleagues to ensure that at least these preparatory steps are taken. However, a full launch will depend on the security situation in the country and the end of the war. I can say that the funds raised from the 5G frequency auction will not be less than those raised at the previous 4G auction. We received almost 3 billion hryvnias from it.