Ukraine’s three major operators Kyivstar, Lifecell and Vodafone Ukraine have enabled free roaming between their networks in a bid to ensure continued communications as Russia continues to pursue a war in the nation.
The operators are prompting users to try connecting to one of the other networks if they are unable to connect to their own. Doing so involves switching off automatic network selection on the device, with users advised to try connecting to each network until they are able to obtain a signal. If none of the networks connect, users are advised to restart their devices and try again. Customers are also asked to attempt reconnecting to their usual network daily.
CommsUpdate reports that the roaming service is currently being offered in the regions of Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy, Poltava, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv, but will soon be expanded nationwide.
The Ukrainian News Agency quoted Vodafone Ukraine’s press secretary Viktoriya Pavlovska as saying: “We united and launch national roaming. You can switch to the network of other Ukrainian operators if your own network is temporarily unavailable. It will be possible to make calls and send SMS … We are launching gradually, we look at how it works. We start from the war zone, then the geography of the service will expand throughout Ukraine.”
The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence recently stated that Russia appeared to be targeting communications networks as it continues its invasion of Ukraine. Kyivstar and Vodafone Ukraine’s networks have reportedly been disrupted in the city of Kherson following its occupation by Russian forces.
