Mykolaiv is a city located in southern Ukraine, 65 km from the Black Sea. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, approximately 470,000 people lived here. But with the beginning of the war, the situation changed dramatically: part of the region was under occupation, and the front line was on the outskirts of the city. The city was regularly shelled, which led to the destruction of infrastructure, in particular critical communications.
In the beginning of the full-scale invasion, when communication had become vital for survival and coordination, the company LLC “NEON”, which provides Internet services using GPoN technology, faced a new challenge — how to provide uninterrupted Internet access to the 2,700 households that were the company’s customers at the time.
The team of LLC “NEON”, consisting of only six employees, worked non-stop to respond to the network damage. The company had to replace 32 km of overhead cable due to the damage caused by the shelling. Most of the work was carried out in the private sector, where a stable internet supply was critical as communications covered a third of the city’s territory. Direct hits to the main underground utilities also caused significant damage, requiring immediate restoration measures.
When the frontline moved away from the city, some residents did not return, but Mykolaiv became a refuge for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from other regions. This affected the dynamics of the customer base — the outflow reached almost 50%, but new customers – those who moved from other regions – increased by 20%. Despite these challenges, the company continued to operate, responding promptly to changes and the needs of residents.
By participating in and winning a grant competition under the ReACT4UA programme funded by the German government and implemented by the German federal company “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the LLC “NEON” was able to repair and protect the network from further damage. With the grant funding, works were carried out on the transfer of 9,670 meters of network cables underground, which made it possible to increase the resistance of the network to shelling. This approach reduced the infrastructure’s vulnerability to damage and ensured uninterrupted Internet operation even during new attacks.
Since the grant funds were used for the project to lay the cable underground, NEON LLC was able to use its own funds to purchase a new generation uninterruptible power supply system based on lithium-iron-phosphate batteries. This system is used to power the main station, which can operate autonomously for more than 10 hours in the event of a power outage without an additional generator. This made it possible to maintain the network operation even during blackouts.
“The EUR 10,000 that LLC “NEON” received as part of the grant support is a large sum for small-sized enterprises like ours. For our business, we need to constantly invest in the development and maintenance of infrastructure. That’s why the grant turned out to be critically important – without it, the company simply would not have been able to survive in the conditions of war and instability,” says Pavlo Konev, the director of the company.
Today, LLC “NEON” continues to provide services to 2400 customers, adapting to new conditions and providing reliable Internet for permanent residents as well as new residents of the city.
Reference information
Non-reversible financial support (grants) to Ukrainian telecommunication operators in de-occupied territories is provided within the international cooperation project ReACT4UA («Utilization and Implementation of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine in the field of trade»), financed by the German Government and implemented by the German federal company «Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH». The grants were made possible by ad-hoc funding from the German Government. The programme aims to support Ukraine’s economic resilience, recovery and growth, create better conditions for the development of Ukrainian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as support innovation and exports.
The strategic implementer of the programme is the German federal company «Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH». The implementing partner is Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO). The support is given by: The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
The contents are the sole responsibility of BRDO and do not necessary reflect the views of the European Union and the German Government.
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