In less than one year, Starlink Mobile Connects 11 Million People Across VEON’s Three High Growth Markets
Key Highlights
- ➤Starlink Mobile connected 11 million VEON customers across Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh
- ➤Service potential exceeds 40 million people across VEON’s footprint
- ➤Kyivstar offers Starlink Mobile free to approximately 15.5 million 4G smartphone users
- ➤Banglalink launched satellite-to-mobile service to 20 million Bangladesh customers
- ➤Beeline Kazakhstan launched Starlink Mobile as the country’s first operator
Expert Statements
Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of VEON Group
“In less than a year, more than 11 million people have taken out their own phone, with no signal anywhere in sight, and connected through a Starlink Mobile satellite overhead. A family in eastern Ukraine, a herder on the Kazakh steppe, a fisherman in the Bay of Bengal. This is American space technology changing lives in real time”
Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of VEON Group
“And we are just getting started. We intend to put it in every hand, in every corner of every market we serve.”
* In less than one year since the service launched in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh, the direct-to-device service has connected a combined 11 million people * From Ukraine to Central Asia and South Asia, the service has the potential to reach more than 40 million people across VEON’s footprint Dubai, New York and Starbase, 19 October 2026 – VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator, and Starlink Mobile today announced that more than 11 million unique VEON customers have now connected to the direct-to-device service at least once in locations where cell signal cannot reach. VEON customers can use satellite-ready apps, share location, and send messages via apps and SMS on their existing LTE compatible phones.
VEON is the first operator group globally to launch Starlink Mobile across three markets. The service has commercially launched in Ukraine with Kyivstar, Kazakhstan with Beeline and most recently in Bangladesh with Banglalink – all within a year since the agreement was signed in November 2025. * Ukraine – Kyivstar (Nasdaq: KYIV) launched Starlink Mobile on 24 November 2025, the first such service in Europe. It is free to all of Kyivstar’s approximately 15.5 million 4G smartphone users. * Kazakhstan – Beeline Kazakhstan launched on 29 September 2026 to millions of customers as the country’s first Starlink Mobile operator. The service was developed with the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, and is offered free during an initial period. * Bangladesh – Banglalink launched on 9 October 2026 to 20 million customers, making Bangladesh the first country in South Asia to offer the satellite-to-mobile service, which can be activated through the MyBL super app, with the RYZE app to follow. The milestone marks a shift in how the world connects. By combining Starlink Mobile satellites in low-Earth orbit with terrestrial mobile networks, VEON and Starlink are enabling existing phones with reliable connectivity in the mountains, on remote highways and at sea, and in places where ground networks have been damaged or knocked out by disaster, conflict or long power outages.
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