Although they continue to operate on a daily basis, Ukrainian telecommunications networks have suffered heavily from Russian bombings. Since the start of the war in February 2022, around 3,200 mobile phone stations and more than 60,000 kilometers of optical fiber have been damaged, at a total cost of around $2.3 billion (2.1 billion euros), estimates the Ukrainian government for which their reconstruction is a priority: like energy, telecoms are essential in the country’s capacity to resist and will be just as essential for the economic recovery hoped for after the war.
Even if the bombs are still hitting, kyiv wants to immediately launch a project to rebuild and modernize the telecoms networks and will rely on the experience of the French sector for this. Mykhaïlo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of innovation, development of education, science, technology and digital transformation of Ukraine, signed an agreement with InfraNum in Kiev on Wednesday, April 10, the federation bringing together more than two hundred French digital infrastructure companies, in the presence of Pierre Heilbronn, special envoy of the President of the French Republic for aid and reconstruction of Ukraine.
“I saw many countries moving closer to Ukraine in anticipation of the reconstruction of digital infrastructure. This stung me a little when we know France’s know-how in this area”explains to World Philippe Le Grand, president of InfraNum. Launched in 2013, the France very high speed plan has made it possible in ten years to bring fiber to 84% of premises in France, making the country one of the most fiber-connected in Europe alongside Spain. In Germany, barely a quarter of homes are connected to fiber, with cable, a less powerful technology, remaining in the majority.
“A logic of development and co-construction”
Not wanting to be overwhelmed by American, Chinese or European competitors, Philippe Le Grand therefore took the initiative in spring 2023 to contact Valeriya Ionan, the Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, to see how the French telecoms sector could contribute to the reconstruction of networks. “We do not have the logic of a vulture or a steamroller to impose our companies and our organization. Our approach is based on a logic of development and co-construction”assures the president of the federation.
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