Party leaders of the Soviet Union had a unique opportunity to communicate directly from the salon of their black "Volga" or "Seagull" using the "Altai" system. It was a voluminous and heavy box, more like a suitcase. It could only be transported in a car. The base station, which was a long-range antenna, was located on a TV tower. Of course, only the cream of society had access to this secret connection - the country's leadership, heads of regions, members of a party cell, directors of large enterprises. The total number of devices did not reach five hundred pieces. And the connection quality was extremely poor. It was the prototype of modern mobile systems.
Cellular communication in the world
The first happy subscribers could use a mobile phone back in 1983. It was a small heavy brick and cost about four thousand dollars in the USA.
In Ukraine, cell phones were not popular due to the impossibility of using them due to the lack of mobile communications as such.
The birth of cellular communications in Ukraine
Ukrainian mobile operators appeared in 1993. Rather, it was the only representative of wireless communications - Ukrainian Mobile Communications.
The official birthday was the first of July 1993. In history, this date will be remembered by the call of the President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk to the Ambassador in Germany. The conversation lasted less than a minute, but the call quality was excellent.
Of course, wireless speech sounded in Kyiv and earlier - during the installation of equipment by installers.
Ukrainian Mobile Communications has been a monopoly for three years. Kyivstar, WellCOM, Golden Telecom and DCC appeared in 1996.
Mobile operators in Ukraine offered users phones weighing half a kilo, which cost up to two thousand dollars. The cost of a minute inside the country reached two dollars. Often the bills came with numbers with five zeros. And it's in dollars! Whereas the average monthly salary of a worker did not exceed fifty.
By the end of 1993, the total number of subscribers in the country approached three thousand people. Most of them were in Kyiv and Dnepropetrovsk.
The communication standard was exclusively NMT. Phones were "locked" under one operator.
Expanding development
1999 was remembered by subscribers for the fact that Ukrainian mobile operators began to massively switch to a convenient and modern GSM standard. And this means that users could freely choose a cellular company by simply changing the SIM card. After all, prepaid anonymized communication has become the most popular way to use it. No contracts.
Phones have fallen significantly in price. Although bills were still billed in dollars, the numbers were no longer so exorbitant.
The beginning of the new century was marked by the fact that Ukrainian mobile operators began to actively divide the empty segment with the help of powerful advertising - billboards, promotions, free distribution of SIM cards.
In 2002, the subscriber base reached twelve million people.
Who exactly provides the connection
Mobile communication in Ukraine has undergone rapid development over the past twenty years. Operators appeared almost every year. CDMA, Trimob, Private Mobile, Utel, PeopleNet - just a small part.
Most Popular:
- Mobile communication operator "MTS - Ukraine". The successor of the first cellular company "Ukrainian Mobile Communications". Subsidiary of OAO Mobile Telesystems (Russian Federation) since 2003 (100 percent of shares). The UMC brand has been used for a long time. The final renaming took place in 2010. Negotiations are currently underway to use the Vodafone name. In February 2015, he received a license to develop 3G networks. Covering almost the entire territory of Ukraine. Subscriber base - twelve million. Codes of Ukrainian mobile operators that are MTS or were once part of this company (Jeans, Ecotel, Sim-Sim, UMC) - 050, 066, 095, 099.
- Kyivstar entered the mobile market at the end of 1997. In 2000, he was the first among competitors to provide access to the Internet. In 2009there was a merger with the mobile operator VimpelCom (in Ukraine it was represented by the Beeline brand). In February 2015, he received a license to develop 3G networks. The total number of subscribers to date has exceeded twenty-seven million people. Codes of Ukrainian mobile operators that are Kyivstar or were once part of this company (D-jus, Mobilych) - 067, 068, 096, 097, 098.
- Life:) was the last to enter the Ukrainian market in 2005. At the moment, one hundred percent of the shares belong to the Turkish operator Turkcell. Licensed to use new generation 3G networks. Over ten million users. Number codes - 063, 073, 093.
Conclusion
Ukrainian mobile operators have built a decent modern mobile network over the twenty-year history of their existence. There is still a lot of work ahead, and the full package of services is far from being available throughout the country. Subscribers are looking forward to the speedy introduction of 3G and the transition to the 4G standard.
