Under the three-year contract, Kyivstar gives Ericsson exclusive status for deliveries of GSM/GPRS/EDGE equipment. The contract also includes transmission equipment as well as a services agreement.

As an innovative mobile communications company, Kyivstar will be the first operator in Ukraine to implement EDGE in its network. EDGE, an enhancement of GPRS, can handle three times the data throughput of GPRS, in existing spectrum bands.

"By signing this important contract with one of world's top suppliers of telecom solutions, our company will substantially strengthen its leading position as a provider of high-tech innovative services to our subscribers," said Igor Lytovchenko, president of Kyivstar GSM. "Our long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation enters a new level with this agreement."

"We are honored to be awarded this major contract by Kyivstar. With our long-term strong continuing business with Kyivstar GSM and our leading technology and solutions, we are dedicating ourselves to support Kyivstar to build a mobile network into the future," said Rasmus Nordby, president of Ericsson in Ukraine. "We are committed to the further development of mobile communications in Ukraine, and will continue to support our customer to meet the communication needs of end users."