Ukrainian telco company, Ukrtelecom announced that 75% of regional hubs are still operational, enabling a huge percent of the population to communicate with each other, which is crucial during this kind of situation. The company also stated that on the 26th of February, while the attacks are getting more fierce, network availability was approximately 87%.
Evacuations started
Mykhaylo Shuranov, Ukrtelecom’s director of public relations stated that one of the fiber lines was distorted during the attacks, affecting the capacity in 10 regions. The company is continuing to fix the infrastructure wherever possible. Shuranov also stated that the usage level is high. Along with Ukrtelecom, global operators, including TIM, BT, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone UK, and Three are also offering free services, allowing Ukrainian citizens to communicate with each other.
Shuranov also noted that safety of the company’s employees is to top proirity and they are being evacuated from various locations. The company has organized hostels to support employees who are being evacuated, and some of the employees stayed in Kyiv. Mykhaylo Shuranov, director of public relations at Ukrtelecom said,
« Russian military troops distorted one of the main fiber lines near Kryvy Rig last night. Generally, we’ve experienced some degradation of capacity in the 10 regions most affected by the war but the network is working. Thinking about our customers since the first day of the war, we continue to provide services even without payment and we see that usage level is high.
Some of our employees were evacuated from the hottest destinations. In the western parts of Ukraine, we are organizing hostels on our premises to support people who had to be evacuated. I, like many others, stayed in Kyiv. »