Global digital operator Veon announced on Friday it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airspan Networks to collaborate on Open RAN and air-to-land network solutions for Veon’s Ukrainian operator Kyivstar.
Under the MoU, which was signed during Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona earlier this month, Veon and Airspan will explore opportunities to develop, deploy and test Open RAN and air-to-land solutions designed to improve Kyivstar’s telecoms infrastructure resilience in extreme conditions.
Veon group CEO Kaan Terzioglu said the AirSpan MoU is part of its commitment in June 2024 to invest US$1 billion to rebuild Ukraine’s digital infrastructure from 2023 to 2027.
“This includes upgrading and expanding our mobile network and equipping it with most advanced capabilities to keep Ukraine connected such as Open RAN, direct-to-cell satellite connectivity and air-to-land solutions,” he said in a statement.
The AirSpan MoU also marks Kyivstar’s second major investment in Open RAN after signing a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Japan’s Rakuten Symphony at last year’s MWC event to purchase and deploy Open RAN and 5G technologies into its network.
Kyivstar recently launched a laboratory with Rakuten Symphony to test the company’s cloud-native RAN software.
Airspan is a key supplier for Rakuten Mobile’s Open RAN network in Japan.
