Ukrainian mobile communications operators and vendors selling network equipment believe that 5G communication could be launched in Ukraine in 2020 only in the specific area with specific functionality, and the pilot launch across Ukraine is possible only in two or three years.

"If we set a task for ourselves, we can fulfill it next year [presidential decree dated May 17, 2019 on providing services for the introduction of 5G]. The issue is in the scale. On the national scale, this is probably an ambitious task. On the scale of point solutions why not, for example, for the industry... Together, it is possible to make 5G coverage in a specific area with specific functionality," Director for Business Development at Ericsson in Ukraine Igor Srebrodolskiy said at the 5G: Opportunities and Challenges talk held at UNIT Park.City (Kyiv).

At the same time, Alexander Serbin Director of Business Development at Huawei Ukraine believes that from a technical point of view, it is already possible to launch 5G now, without any problem. He said that there are only questions to operators: can they sell it and earn money on it.

"As of now, I do not see a real opportunity for operators to somehow make a lot of money on 5G. If they cannot earn money, then why should they do it? As soon as the state creates the prerequisites for the launch of 5G, vendors will bring equipment," he said.

Kyivstar said that the most realistic is the launch of pilot 5G in two or three years and commercial launches in four or five years.

"The cost of 5G depends largely on the policy. If we talk about the sale of the frequency spectrum, there are two extreme approaches: very expensive (for example, in Italy and the U.K., the price at auctions reaches billions of pounds and euros), or very cheap, or free of charge at all. Of course, there is a balance somewhere, but the second approach accelerates the development of the entire network," chief expert on spectral strategy at Kyivstar Igor Yereshchenko said.

Huawei Ukraine sticks to the same position.