President Petro Poroshenko visited the Ukrainian State Centre of Radio Frequencies to hand over the first licenses following the results of the tender for the use of radio frequency resource of Ukraine that took place on January 31.
“I am sure that for today it is a vivid demonstration of how Ukraine has changed,”
Petro Poroshenko said. The President congratulated the companies that purchased the license and thanked all the bidders.
Addressing the bidders and the attendees, the Head of State expressed confidence that they witnessed a remarkable event, as “tender, which opens the gate to 4G connection, is taking place”. “It is a solemn event, as the opening price increased more than three times or at least three times today, which is the evidence of an extremely high level of transparency and competitiveness. These steps are aimed at demonstrating efficient struggle against corruption,” the President stressed.
“One couldn’t imagine such an auction before,” he added.
Petro Poroshenko reminded that as a result of the previous 3G competition, UAH 9 billion was attracted, UAH 2 billion was received by the Ukrainian army for the conversion of frequencies and UAH 26 billion was invested by investors in the Ukrainian economy in order to provide Ukrainians with high-quality connection.
“Today, we witness a historic event. The Head of the Center told me: “Petro Oleksiyovych, I can compare it only with the ratification of the Association Agreement and the breakthrough with the visa-free regime”. This is the scale of today’s event,” the Head of State emphasized. As a result of tender, more than two billion additional funds will be attracted to the budget. At the same time, the President is hopeful that this amount could reach five billion.
“All these funds go to the state budget of Ukraine and this is the true price of Ukrainian frequencies. It is the third competition, transparent and effective, which ensures investors’ confidence. There are no other restrictions, except for the transfer of funds to the budget,” Petro Poroshenko emphasized.
“26 billion hryvnias were invested in the development of 3G connection. At least 20 billion will be invested in the Ukrainian economy to develop 4G connection. The figures are impressive. They are the element, the key feature of our cooperation, faith of investors in Ukraine and improvement of the investment climate,” the President concluded.
Petro Poroshenko noted that 4G connection opened a lot of new opportunities for young Ukrainians, particularly in education and IT technologies. According to him, two modern technologies were introduced over the past 4 years: “The difference between them is like switching from draisine to modern high-speed train”.
“We will quickly forget about textbooks and switch to an interactive form of learning, as textbooks just cannot update as fast as knowledge,” he said.
The Head of State noted that after that auction, the regulator must hold the auction to launch 4G standard in the 900 MHz range. “And we will be able to launch 3G and 4G connection in the rural areas to develop rural medicine and rural education, to provide the village council with a reliable and efficient internet connection,” he stressed.
Petro Poroshenko is confident that mobile operators will launch 4G connection in the vast majority of regional centers already in 2018. “I hope it will take several months for Kyiv,” he added.
According to him, the introduction of 4G connection also means the possibility of introducing a “smart city” system: smart street lighting control, efficient public transport system, accounting, GPS. “This includes security, webcams and public order,” the President said.
“Ukraine is returning to Europe by the level of IT technologies as well,” Petro Poroshenko noted, adding that this opens up new opportunities for Ukrainians who specialize in IT technologies. They will not have to go abroad. In addition, it opens new opportunities for e-commerce, online commerce and the use of new means of payment.
“Everyone who uses these services can see how much our country is changing,” the President is convinced.
According to the Head of State, all this is done in an extremely effective anticorruption environment, with the attraction of funds to the state budget.
