lite. In 2007, there were five types of licenses for the provision of direct satellite communications services.
There are currently two industry associations in the Internet sector, the Internet
Association of Ukraine, 22 which owns the Ukrainian Internet Exchange (UIE), 23 and
the Ukrainian Wireless Association. 24 The Internet Association of Ukraine aims to safeguard the interests of all participants in the Internet market and has successfully
ensured a reduction in the price of internal traffic in Ukraine. 25
Since 2001, the Ukrainian national country code top-level domain (‘‘.ua’’) has been
administered by LLC ‘‘Hostmaster’’ founded by representatives of the Ukrainian Internet community. 26 The number of domain names registered under ‘‘.ua’’ is steadily
increasing. For example, under ‘‘.com.ua,’’ the total number of domain names
increased from 31,153 in 2004 to 145,114 in April 2009. The overall number of
domain names under ‘‘.ua’’ had increased from 133,907 to 390,197 as of January 1,
2009. 27
Blogging has also been on the rise. Ukrainian Internet users have opened more
than 80,000 blogs on popular portals such as livejournal.com (35,000), liveInternet.ru
(27,500), dnevnik.bigmir.net (11,000), drevo.uaportal.com (4,000), diary.ru (2,500),
Jeans.com.ua/blogs.php (2,300), and Dnevnik.org.ua (1,200). 28
The most popular search engines in Ukraine are Ukrainian-based BigMir.net and
ukr.net, Russian-based Yandex and Rambler, and Google. The majority (60.3 percent)
of online searches in Ukraine are performed through Google, followed by Russian and
Ukrainian search engines Yandex (18.3 percent), ukr.net (2.64 percent), Rambler (2.16
percent), and Meta.ua (2.11 percent). 29
Ukraine’s mobile sector is very dynamic. There are six mobile providers in the country: UMS 30 (GSM-900/1800 and NMT-450i), Kyivstar 31 GSM (GSM-900/1800), Astelit 32
(GSM-1800), Ukrainskie Radiosystemy (GSM-1800), 33 and Utel (UMTS/WCDMA). 34
Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
The Ministry of Transport and Communications (through the State Administration for
Communications) is the policymaker in the electronic communications sector. The
Law on Communications (2003) established the sector regulator—the National Communication Regulation Commission (NCRC), which was set up two years later. The
law of 2003 does not guarantee the independence of the NCRC. Instead, a number of
inconsistencies between sector laws have increased the uncertainty about who has the
power to appoint the commissioners. The NCRC is responsible for licensing operators,
monitoring the market, price regulation, frequency assignment, numbering, ensuring
compliance with the legal framework, imposing sanctions, and resolving disputes when
interconnection agreements are not reached between operators. The NCRC’s work has
often been obstructed by claims of unlawful appointments and operation. 35
Ukraine
253
There are currently two industry associations in the Internet sector, the Internet
Association of Ukraine, 22 which owns the Ukrainian Internet Exchange (UIE), 23 and
the Ukrainian Wireless Association. 24 The Internet Association of Ukraine aims to safeguard the interests of all participants in the Internet market and has successfully
ensured a reduction in the price of internal traffic in Ukraine. 25
Since 2001, the Ukrainian national country code top-level domain (‘‘.ua’’) has been
administered by LLC ‘‘Hostmaster’’ founded by representatives of the Ukrainian Internet community. 26 The number of domain names registered under ‘‘.ua’’ is steadily
increasing. For example, under ‘‘.com.ua,’’ the total number of domain names
increased from 31,153 in 2004 to 145,114 in April 2009. The overall number of
domain names under ‘‘.ua’’ had increased from 133,907 to 390,197 as of January 1,
2009. 27
Blogging has also been on the rise. Ukrainian Internet users have opened more
than 80,000 blogs on popular portals such as livejournal.com (35,000), liveInternet.ru
(27,500), dnevnik.bigmir.net (11,000), drevo.uaportal.com (4,000), diary.ru (2,500),
Jeans.com.ua/blogs.php (2,300), and Dnevnik.org.ua (1,200). 28
The most popular search engines in Ukraine are Ukrainian-based BigMir.net and
ukr.net, Russian-based Yandex and Rambler, and Google. The majority (60.3 percent)
of online searches in Ukraine are performed through Google, followed by Russian and
Ukrainian search engines Yandex (18.3 percent), ukr.net (2.64 percent), Rambler (2.16
percent), and Meta.ua (2.11 percent). 29
Ukraine’s mobile sector is very dynamic. There are six mobile providers in the country: UMS 30 (GSM-900/1800 and NMT-450i), Kyivstar 31 GSM (GSM-900/1800), Astelit 32
(GSM-1800), Ukrainskie Radiosystemy (GSM-1800), 33 and Utel (UMTS/WCDMA). 34
Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
The Ministry of Transport and Communications (through the State Administration for
Communications) is the policymaker in the electronic communications sector. The
Law on Communications (2003) established the sector regulator—the National Communication Regulation Commission (NCRC), which was set up two years later. The
law of 2003 does not guarantee the independence of the NCRC. Instead, a number of
inconsistencies between sector laws have increased the uncertainty about who has the
power to appoint the commissioners. The NCRC is responsible for licensing operators,
monitoring the market, price regulation, frequency assignment, numbering, ensuring
compliance with the legal framework, imposing sanctions, and resolving disputes when
interconnection agreements are not reached between operators. The NCRC’s work has
often been obstructed by claims of unlawful appointments and operation. 35
Ukraine
253