Joint statement by EU and Ukrainian operators on connectivity in support of Ukraine
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 significantly altered the plans of the newly established NCEC. Thus, ensuring that Ukrainians who were forced to leave Ukraine and are temporarily residing abroad could stay in touch with their families and not lose contact with their homeland became one of the top priorities.
To this end, on the third day of the full-scale invasion, the NCEC took the initiative to contact the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the national regulatory authorities of the EU Member States with a request to provide maximum support to Ukrainian citizens, in particular, to reduce the cost of roaming services and international calls to Ukraine.
On 08 April 2022, under the auspices of the European Commission (EC) and the European Parliament, with the support of BEREC and the NCEC, 3 Ukrainian and 24 EU electronic communications operators signed a Joint Statement (JS), which allowed for the implementation of a coordinated approach to setting tariffs for roaming services and international calls to Ukraine and also enabled Ukrainian mobile operators to offer their subscribers affordable roaming services in 25 EU Member States and even to cover countries that are not part of the EU (in total – up to 32 European countries). As a result, up to 5 million subscribers of Ukrainian operators have used (and continue to use) affordable international roaming services while in the EU. The JS is open to all EU operators, which may join at any time during its validity period, which has led to changes in the number (mostly an increase thereof) of its participants in certain periods.
The implementation of the JS at the initial stages has demonstrated a steady trend towards an increase in the level of consumption of data (Internet access) and voice services. On average, the consumption of voice traffic in roaming per subscriber per month has increased threefold, and the consumption of data traffic has increased 7.5 times.
To promote the prolongation of the JS until the end of the war or until Ukraine joins the EU roaming area “Roam-like-at-home” (RLAH)”, the NCEC, together with BEREC and the relevant Directorates General of the European Commission, carried out comprehensive work within the relevant timeframes. In particular, to implement the provisions of the Joint Statement and to ensure the possibility of its further prolongation, BEREC, together with the NCEC, collected and analyzed relevant data and, on the basis thereof, prepared monitoring reports on the implementation of the JS by Ukrainian and EU operators, which are published on the official BEREC website (June 2023; June 2024; June 2025).
Taking into account the results of the monitoring reports, as well as the joint work carried out by the NCEC and the EC with Ukrainian and EU operators respectively, the duration of the JS has been extended until 31 December 2025, i.e., until Ukraine’s actual joining the RLAH which is expected on 1 January 2026.
The JS and its revision have become an example of practical interaction between the Ukrainian and EU roaming markets, which allows for effective measures to be taken to significantly reduce/abolish roaming tariffs at the business level. The successful implementation of the JS has been viewed as a signal for further in-depth dialogue on the possibility and format of Ukraine’s joining the RLAH, as well as relevant political arrangements.