Kyivstar Brings 5G Pilot to Kyiv, Its Fourth and Largest Test Zone

Kyivstar has switched on its 5G pilot network in Kyiv, making the Ukrainian capital the fourth and largest test zone in the operator's trial programme. The deployment follows earlier pilots in Lviv, Borodyanka and Kharkiv.

Coverage in Kyiv centres on the city's most trafficked landmarks. The pilot footprint includes Independence Square, Khreshchatyk, Sophia Square, the National Opera of Ukraine and Taras Shevchenko Park. No citywide coverage figures were disclosed.

How big is the pilot in practice?

The company said preparations took more than six months. The work involved installing new base stations and upgrading existing network infrastructure. Kyivstar did not state how many sites went into the capital deployment.

Kyivstar selected the capital for three commercial reasons: high mobile data consumption, a dense concentration of subscribers and broad device readiness. Almost 40% of devices on Kyivstar's network already support 5G. That is a high compatibility figure for a market where 5G remains in trial. For context, roughly four in ten handsets on the network could connect to the new cells from day one.

What do the usage numbers show?

The pilot programme has already generated measurable demand. Kyivstar reported that more than 724,000 subscribers have used its 5G network during pilot testing. Those users transferred more than 755 terabytes of data — roughly a terabyte per thousand connected subscribers over the trial period.

Throughput figures come from the operator itself:

• Average speeds: 600 to 700 Mbps
• Peak speeds: 1.5 to 1.7 Gbps

These are vendor-grade performance claims under trial conditions, not audited network statistics. Independent drive tests have not been published.

Access requirements are straightforward. A subscriber needs a 5G-compatible smartphone with up-to-date software, a USIM card and pilot-zone coverage. Existing tariffs continue to apply. Kyivstar has not introduced a 5G price premium during testing.

Why does 4G still carry the network?

The 5G expansion does not change Ukraine's mobile hierarchy. 4G remains the country's main mobile technology, and Kyivstar continues to invest accordingly. The operator said its LTE network covers more than 96% of Ukraine's population, with peak speeds of up to 1 Gbps. The company stated it keeps expanding and modernising the LTE layer even as it tests fifth-generation cells.

The gap matters for practitioners. LTE at 96% population coverage dwarfs a pilot confined to central districts of four cities. Operators in comparable European markets followed the same sequence: prove 5G demand in dense urban zones, then scale once spectrum and economics align. Ukraine's full 5G rollout still depends on spectrum allocation and wartime constraints not addressed in the company's announcement.

What is Kyivstar's subscriber base?

Kyivstar served around 22 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.2 million fixed-line subscribers as of March 2026. That makes the 724,000 5G pilot users equivalent to roughly 3% of the mobile base — a meaningful early-adoption signal for a technology still in trial, even if the users were concentrated in a handful of city centres.

The device compatibility rate of almost 40% gives the operator a clear runway once commercial launch arrives: the handset fleet is largely ready before the network is.

Kyivstar has not announced a commercial 5G launch date. For now, the pilot's expansion to Kyiv signals intent — testing has moved from regional cities and one rebuilt town to the capital's core, with usage and throughput data accumulating ahead of any nationwide decision.