Veon expects customers using Starlink in Ukraine to reach 12 million this year

By Joan Faus

BARCELONA, March 3 (Reuters) - The number of people in Ukraine connecting to the internet using SpaceX's Starlink will probably reach around 12 million by the end of this year from the current 5 million users, the CEO of telecoms group Veon VEON-RX.MM said on Tuesday.

Last year, Veon signed a partnership with Elon Musk's company in a bid to bring satellite connectivity to mobile users in remote areas as competition in satellite-to-smartphone connectivity intensifies. In war-torn Ukraine, the service has been rolled out by Veon unit Kyivstar.

"I would expect every Ukrainian to consider having the ability to connect to satellite," CEO Kaan Terzioglu told Reuters at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

"Due to electricity outages, it could be the case that everybody once in a while will need the service," Terzioglu added.

Twelve million people are around half of Kyivstar's total customers, he said.

Dubai-based Veon also plans to integrate Starlink's service into the network of Beeline, its operator in Kazakhstan.

Terzioglu said he hoped the service would be fully operating by the end of March and that it could also launch this year in at least one of the three other countries - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan - where it operates.