Ukraine will not be able to use mobile applications to control the virus spread until it introduces the mandatory registration of mobile subscribers, CEO of mobile operator lifecell Ismet Yazici has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"After lockdown was announced, tens of thousands of people returned to Ukraine, mainly from European countries. We see millions of subscribers who are constantly moving, but for us it is just a big mass of unregistered SIM cards. We do not know who they are and with whom someone is in contact. That is why those solutions that are now used worldwide to stop the epidemic in some countries cannot be effectively used in Ukraine," he said.

According to the CEO of lifecell, China, South Korea, Israel and other highly developed countries used technological solutions to control the virus spread. He said that in all these countries there is a registration of subscribers and a clear understanding of who is behind each of the phone numbers in the network.

"This makes it possible to determine the location of subscribers, compare it with their place of residence, and obtain data on their observance of lockdown. Accordingly, the main technology for controlling the virus spread is as follows: determine who is infected, who was in direct contact with the infected person, and limit all further contacts with these persons through their observation or self-isolation," Yazici said.

He also said that the subscribers of Ukrainian mobile operators are conditionally 'absolutely free,' as they have never registered, and the operators do not have any of their personal information.

According to the CEO of lifecell, if Ukrainians use services such as Messenger, WhatsApp, Facebook, Alibaba or Amazon, all these international companies have full information about all their payments, about their social circle, etc.

"It is a paradox that on the one hand, Ukrainian subscribers think that they are free because they are not registered. On the other hand, they are absolutely transparent for any other global platforms," he said.

Yazici also said that in lifecell networks voice traffic grew during the lockdown period, while its growth significantly outpaced the consumption of mobile Internet.

"First of all, this can be explained by the fact that people are mostly at home. They do not travel, do not walk and go only to nearby shops, so they use local Wi-Fi networks much more," Yazici said.

According to the company's CEO, during the lockdown period, the number and amount of payments to Paycell (lifecell mobile money service) has increased by more than 40%.

Lifecell is the third largest mobile operator in Ukraine.