The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has presented the results of last year’s report on war damage to Ukraine’s telecommunications infrastructure. Paulius Vaina, an expert at the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA), contributed to this report. The report shows that Ukraine’s telecommunications sector is resilient, despite the scale of damage and economic losses caused by the war.
The report covers an eight-month period from the start of the war on 24 February 2022. The economic damage caused by the Russian war in Ukraine to the telecommunications sector is estimated at more than USD 0.1 billion, with companies providing 22% fewer services than before the war, resulting in a reduction in their revenues.
“We have had friendly relations with Ukraine for many years and have been cooperating in our fields. For example, since 2019, we have been running a European Union-funded twinning project to strengthen Ukraine’s regulatory capacity in the areas of market access and quality of service supervision. We have already supported Ukraine’s aspirations to move closer to the European Union, and now we are committed to assisting and supporting Ukraine in the reconstruction of its telecommunications sector,” says Jūratė Šovienė, Chairwoman of the CRA, after presenting her commitment to prepare a report on the reconstruction of Ukraine’s telecommunications networks at the World Telecommunication Development Conference in Rwanda in June 2022.
Billions in losses
The report was supported by Ukrainian representatives from the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the National Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection.
It has been estimated that around USD 1.79 billion is needed to restore Ukraine’s telecommunications sector to the level reached in January 2022. Direct damage to Ukraine’s telecommunications facilities, networks, systems and equipment amounts to USD 0.71 billion.
“Our research shows that the networks of ICT operators have been partially, and in some cases completely, destroyed or occupied in more than 10 of Ukraine’s 24 regions since the start of the war. During the six months of the war, 1,123 cyber-attacks targeting all sectors of the Ukrainian economy, including IT and telecommunications, were reported,” says P. Vaina, an CRA expert who contributed to the report and analysed the statistical information provided by Ukraine.
As of July 2022, 12.2% of settlements had completely (and 3.1% partially) lost access to mobile services, 11% of mobile operators’ base stations were out of service and 20% of the country’s telecommunication infrastructure was damaged or destroyed.
Step one
“It is understandable that as the war continues, the telecommunications infrastructure continues to be destroyed and the losses are growing every day. However, this report is the first real estimate of the damage to Ukraine’s communications sector, which is very important for the planning of the reconstruction work and the resources needed for it,” emphasises the Chairwoman of the CRA, J. Šovienė.
On the basis of this report, European and other countries will concentrate their efforts on restoring Ukraine’s critical telecommunications infrastructure and communications services throughout the territory of Ukraine as soon as possible. Before ICT infrastructure in Ukraine can be rebuilt, parts of the territory where hostilities have taken place will first need to be cleared of debris and remaining explosives. Another necessary condition is the provision of electricity.
The report is available here.
Updated on 2023-08-01