Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Rakuten Symphony and Kyivstar Sign Letter of Intent to Deploy Open RAN to Rebuild Ukraine's Digital Infrastructure

26/02/2024

26 Feb 2024

Rakuten Symphony and Kyivstar Sign Letter of Intent to Deploy Open RAN to Rebuild Ukraine's Digital Infrastructure Companies intend to take the first steps in implementation in 2024

Barcelona, February 26, 2024 - VEON, (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and online services, today announces that its wholly-owned subsidiary Kyivstar and Rakuten Symphony, a subsidiary of the leading internet services company Rakuten Group have signed of a Letter of Intent (LoI) that confirms Kyivstar's interest in procuring and deploying Rakuten Symphonys Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology in its network.

The LoI confirms Kyivstar's intent to use Rakuten's Open RAN and 5G technologies to help rebuild Ukraines digital infrastructure, reinforcing both companies' commitment to supporting Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction. The companies intend to take the first steps in the implementation of their cooperation within 2024. Kyivstar and Rakuten Symphony are currently collaborating to define the scope of their initiative, which will involve both 4G and 5G Open RAN technology.

Rakuten and VEON celebrated the signing of the LoI between Rakuten Symphony and Kyivstar at the MWC24 Barcelona. Left to right: Volodymyr Lutchenko, Kyivstar CTO; Lasha Tabidze, VEON Group Digital Operator Officer; Mickey Mikitani, Group Chairman and CEO, Rakuten; Vice Minister Hiroshi Yoshida, Vice-Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan; Kaan Terzioglu, VEON Group CEO; Oleksandr Komarov, Kyivstar CEO and Hideyuki Hirama, EVP, COO and CSO, Rakuten Symphony.

Rakuten and Kyivstar held a signing ceremony for the LoI in the presence of Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, and Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine, at the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Growth and Reconstruction, hosted in Tokyo on February 19, with Hideyuki Hirama, EVP, COO and CSO of Rakuten Symphony, and Sergiy Korsunsky, Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan, in attendance.

Keidanren

Mickey Mikitani, Chairman and CEO, Rakuten Group, said, Rakuten is extremely proud to continue its support for Ukraine's efforts to rebuild its infrastructure and in supporting Kyivstar's vision for deploying Open RAN. We look forward to advancing collaboration between our two organizations and to realising Ukraine's digital potential through the rebuilding of the country's digital infrastructure.

Kaan Terzioglu, Group CEO of VEON, said We are now in the implementation phase of our 600 million USD investment commitment for the reconstruction of Ukraine. I share the excitement of our Kyivstar team, under the leadership of Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov, in working with Rakuten to rebuild the country's infrastructure with Open RAN as a part of this commitment. We have a shared passion for building Ukraine's digital future and I'm glad to see the progress in our joint effort.

The signing follows a number of measures taken by Rakuten and VEON to support Ukraine throughout the war, demonstrating a commitment to its people, economy and post-war reconstruction. In August 2023, Rakuten Symphony and VEON, Kyivstar's parent company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore cooperation in Ukraine, with the goal of accelerating the reconstruction of the country's infrastructure, through collaboration on Open RAN and digital services.

Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani accompanied Japanese government officials on a diplomatic mission to Ukraine in September 2023. Serving as a representative of Japan's private sector, Mikitani met with Ukraine leaders including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology and Minister of Digital Transformation.

Rakuten also launched the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Emergency Relief Fund through its online donation platform, Rakuten Clutch Special Charity Fund, and held a t-shirt donation drive to support Ukraine that raised more than 1.3 billion yen.

VEON's Kyivstar, the largest telecommunications operator in Ukraine, has kept its 24 million customers connected at home and abroad throughout the past two years, and continued to invest heavily in its network and digital services. One of the largest taxpayers in Ukraine, Kyivstar also supports a number of charitable causes, most recently raising 4.8 million USD for the demining of Ukraine.

VEON has committed 600 million USD in investments over three years, supporting Ukraine's reconstruction and recovery; and has announced the intention to widen the scope of its commitment to 1 billion USD in five years, if market conditions permit.

About VEON

VEON is a global digital operator that currently provides converged connectivity and online services to nearly 160 million customers in six dynamic markets. We are transforming people's lives, empowering individuals, creating opportunities for greater digital inclusion and driving economic growth across countries that are home to more than 7% of the world's population. Headquartered in Amsterdam, VEON is listed on NASDAQ and Euronext Amsterdam. For more information, visit: https://www.veon.com

About Kyivstar

Kyivstar is the largest telecoms operator in Ukraine with 24 million mobile subscribers and over 1.1 million home internet subscribers. The company provides services based on mobile and fixed-line technologies, including 4G, as well as Big Data, IoT, cloud solutions, digital TV, digital health and others. Kyivstar is 100% owned by the international VEON Group, headquartered in the Netherlands and listed on NASDAQ and Euronext Amsterdam stock exchanges. For more information visit: https://www.kyivstar.ua.

About Ra
LINK: https://www.veon.com/newsroom/press-releases/rakuten-symphony-and-kyiv...
See more stories from vimpel

Most recent headlines

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

21/05/2025

TAG Video Systems and swXtchio Unveil Advanced Cloud-Base...

TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP media probing, monitoring, visualization, and analytics, and swXtch.io, the leading provider of cloud-based m...

21/05/2025

Comcast Advertising Bows New AI Ad-Creation Platform

NEW YORK Comcast Advertising has launched a new AI creative platform that will make it much easier for small businesses and local advertisers to market and prom...

21/05/2025

Prime Video Unveils Tech Plans for NASCAR Cup Series

NEW YORK Prime Video has released some of its tech plans for the NASCAR Cup Series, which begins on Sunday, May 25 at 5 p.m. ET with the Coca-Cola 600 from Char...

21/05/2025

Matrox ORIGIN Achieves AWS Foundational Technical Review (FTR) Validation

MONTREAL Matrox Video has announced that it has successfully completed the AWS Foundational Technical Review (FTR) for Matrox ORIGIN....

21/05/2025

NBCU's Clarence Hau to Receive 2025 ATSC Mark Richer Leadership Medal

WASHINGTON Clarence Hau, NBCUniversal senior vice president of standards, policy and advanced engineering, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Advanced Tel...

21/05/2025

Tawazun Council and Thales Sign Agreement to Establish Ground Master Air Surveillance Radar Production Facility in UAE

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn As part of the Tawazun Economic Program, Thales ...

20/05/2025

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.2 of just:in mac capture solutions for macOS.

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.2 of just:in mac capture solut...

20/05/2025

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.1 Playout solutions for macOS.

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.1 Playout solutions for macOS. Vienna, Austria. May 9th, 2025 ToolsOnAir, a leading provider of broadcast...

20/05/2025

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Matt Wolf, the Filmmaker Behind Pee-wee as Himself

By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...

20/05/2025

Six Captivating Audiobooks Amplify Asian and Pacific Islander Artists

Throughout the month of May, Spotify is celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by amplifying the many artists, creators, and authors who share th...

20/05/2025

Songs of Summer 2025: Spotify's Global Editors Predicts the Anthems That Will Soundtrack the Season

It's officially summer on Spotify and, once again, our team of best-in-class...

20/05/2025

Sunbeam Television and Nielsen's Local TV Agreement Now Includes ABC Miami and WSVN, a Fox Affiliate

Extended agreement includes Local TV and OTT measurement and Digital Content Rat...

20/05/2025

2025-04-04

Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence while taking an extraordinary step forward for privacy in A...

20/05/2025

Magnite, Amazon Publisher Services Extend Streaming TV Collaboration

NEW YORK Amazon Publisher Services (APS) and independent sell-side advertising company Magnite are collaborating more deeply on streaming TV through the APS Tra...

20/05/2025

Sunbeam Television Expands Nielsen's Local TV Agreement

NEW YORK Nielsen and Sunbeam Television have announced an extension of their agreement to include ABC Miami, which will begin broadcasting as part of Sunbeam in...

20/05/2025

FCC Approves Verizon-Frontier Merger After Verizon Backs Down on DEI

WASHINGTON The FCC has approved Verizon's $20 billion acquisition of Frontier, which was first announced last Sepembert. As part of the agency's decisio...

20/05/2025

Netflix to Stream Sesame Street'

Netflix and PBS have announced new deals with Sesame Workshop that will see new episodes of Sesame Street stream on Netflix and air on PBS Kids....

20/05/2025

ARRI Signs Agreement to Sell Claypaky to EK

MUNICH ARRI has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its lighting subsidiary Claypaky to EK Inc., a major Chinese designer and manu...

20/05/2025

Spectrum Launches Statewide News Channel In Michigan

LIVONIA, Mich. Spectrum News has expanded its reach with the launch of Spectrum News Michigan....

20/05/2025

From Death Becomes Her to Dead Outlaw, Boston Conservatory Actors Are Killing It This Awards Season

From Death Becomes Her to Dead Outlaw, Boston Conservatory Actors Are Killing It...

20/05/2025

Abu Dhabi to launch region's first Earth Observation satellite manufacturing hub

Space42 to establish new Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite manufacturing ...

20/05/2025

Beeline Uzbekistan Moves its Headquarters to Tashkent's IT Park, Deepening Commitment to Uzbekistan's Digital Future

20 May 2025 Beeline Uzbekistan Moves its Headquarters to Tashkent's IT Park...

20/05/2025

The Marlow Murder Club returns for a thrilling third series

Praise for series two: Daily Mail - 5* It's a murder mystery masterclass Heat - 4* Marlow's giving Midsomer a run for its murder money Daily Tele...

20/05/2025

Tribeca Festival and CHANEL Unveil 2025 Artist Awards Program

May 20th, 2025 #ChanelTribeca2025 #Tribeca2025 #CHANELinCinema Press assets available HERE Tribeca Festival and CHANEL Unveil 2025 Artist Awards Program Thi...

20/05/2025

Broad Strategy: DAZN on Creating the Perfect Ecosystem Between Broadcasters, Sponsors and Teams for World Sevens Football

Broad strategy: DAZN on creating the perfect ecosystem between broadcasters, spo...

20/05/2025

Storytelling, Monetization and Engagement: Making the Pitch for AI in Sports Broadcasting

Storytelling, monetisation and engagement: Making the pitch for AI in sports bro...

20/05/2025

FanDuel Sports Network Rolls Out WireCam in Cincinnati; Milwaukee Is Next, With Other Parks To Follow

FanDuel Sports Network Rolls Out WireCam in Cincinnati; Milwaukee Is Next, With ...

20/05/2025

UEFA Europa League Final 2025: Broadcast Facts and Camera Plan for Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United

UEFA Europa League Final 2025: Broadcast facts and camera plan for Tottenham Hot...

20/05/2025

NBA Eastern Conference Finals: TNT Sports Bids Farewell With Upgraded Tech, Onsite Crews for Classic Knicks-Pacers Series

NBA Eastern Conference Finals: TNT Sports Bids Farewell With Upgraded Tech, Onsi...

20/05/2025

NBA Western Conference Finals: ESPN's InsightCast' Features Avatar Shot Charts, Virtual 3D Replays, and Immersive Analysis

NBA Western Conference Finals: ESPN's InsightCast' Features Avatar Shot...

20/05/2025

Sky releases official teaser for Sky Exclusive drama series IT: Welcome to Derry, coming this Autumn

Tuesday 20 May 2025 To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. To ...

20/05/2025

Netflix Unveils First Look at 'Almost Cops' and Announces Release Date

Back to All News Netflix Unveils First Look at Almost Cops and Announces Release Date Entertainment 20 May 2025 GlobalNetherlands Link copied to clipboard ...

20/05/2025

Cignal TV Unlocks Video Streaming and Broadcast Efficiency with Harmonic's Cloud-Native Solution

SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 19, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that C...

20/05/2025

Harmonic Elevates the Broadband Experience with Innovation at ANGA COM 2025

SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 20, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that the company will showcase breakthrough broadband innovations at ANGA COM 2025. P...

20/05/2025

2025-05-20

Today, Apple unveiled an exciting lineup for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), including the Keynote and Platforms State of the Union. Taking p...

20/05/2025

Siemens Makes Factory Floors Smarter With Industrial AI

Industrial AI is transforming how factories operate, innovate and scale. The convergence of AI, simulation and digital twins is poised to unlock new levels of ...

20/05/2025

May 19, 2025

Genomic data shows widespread mpox transmission in West Africa prior to 2022 global outbreak Scripps Research scientists, in collaboration with researchers in N...

19/05/2025

Fresh Finds Turns 10: Cheers to a Decade of Indie Artist Success

For the past decade, Spotify's Fresh Finds playlists have served as a launchpad for emerging independent artists, helping them break through and connect wit...

19/05/2025

Eurovision delivers strong Total TV audiences for SBS, dazzling more than 2.21 million Australians tuning in

Eurovision delivers strong Total TV audiences for SBS, dazzling more than 2.21 m...

19/05/2025

Latest Nielsen data shows NZ travel ad spend up by 12% YoY

Airlines lead the way as more Kiwis pack their bags for travel at home and abroad Auckland - May 14, 2025 - New data from Nielsen Ad Intel reveals a strong yea...

19/05/2025

Australian food sector ad spend rises 6% to $414 Million

Smallgoods, snacks and ice cream shows large growth Sydney - April 30, 2025 - Nielsen Ad Intel data released today has revealed a 6% increase in advertising in...

19/05/2025

Study: New Streaming Bundles Are Attracting Consumers

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. New streaming bundles launched over the past year by both distributors and streamers are generating strong consumer interest in 2025, according...

19/05/2025

Mistika Workflows Upgrade Includes Amberscript, DaVinci Resolve, MASV, Pulsar, Youlean Loudness Meter, and More

Mistika Workflows Upgrade Includes Amberscript, DaVinci Resolve, MASV, Pulsar, Y...

19/05/2025

Berklee's Summer in the City Returns with Free Concerts Throughout the Boston Area

Berklee's Summer in the City Returns with Free Concerts Throughout the Bosto...

19/05/2025

Planetcast to Demonstrate at BroadcastAsia 2025 How its N...

Planetcast Media Services, a leading international media technology and broadcast services provider, will showcase its powerful NexC media distribution platform...

19/05/2025

VuWall and Guntermann and Drunck to Unveil Joint Control...

VuWall and Guntermann & Drunck (G&D), technology leaders in video wall management and KVM systems, will showcase their latest innovations at InfoComm 2025, boot...

19/05/2025

Kiloview to Showcase the Most Complete and Lightweight AV...

Kiloview, a global leader in AV-over-IP, is set to showcase its latest AV-over-IP innovations at InfoComm 2025 in Orlando, FL, from June 11th to 13th. Featuring...

19/05/2025

Eva Longoria to Direct Kim Kardashian in Comedy Feature 'The Fifth Wheel' for Netflix

Back to All News Eva Longoria to Direct Kim Kardashian in Comedy Feature The Fi...