Internet Access in Russia/Ukraine

L

local_crusher

Hello Traders from the Ukraine,

I need to know if it's possible to get a reasonable internet access in Kiev or Odessa, possibly ADSL or Cable.

All I have until now is a quote for a fixed/leased line - priced at $800 for
256 kb bandwidth - that must be a joke.

Thanks for your replies !
 
No, otherwise I would know.
But I am planning to buy a nice condo or some mansion in the next few years.

If anyone can recommend a good network provider (ISP) with an english site, please post it here.
 
I trade out of a coffee house in Odessa called Sputnix (they're a chain based out of St. Petersburg). Excellent Wi-Fi. Kiev Koffee is also setting up connectivity in their shops. I LOVE their Moscow Mocha!
 
Hi Pabst,

nice to know you are around there.Appreciate your input. I use proprietary software, so nothing less than a fast private line, directly online in front of me or some office for 24 hours, will do.

I am beginning to think this is really difficult, maybe somebody has information on what Golden Telecom actually offers? I heard they do DSL in Kiev. Can anyone confirm that? If yes, how does it work?
If I buy a condo, can I ask Golden Telecom to make the phone line DSL ready (just as in the US) or is it not that simple?
And how reliable is the network access actually?

Kind Regards

local
 
The main problem with high-speed Internet in Ukraine is that in most areas (except near the city center in Kyiv) you still have old Soviet-style phone systems. Ukrtelecom, the still government-owned phone company (well, Deutsche Telekom has a stake in it) has said they will upgrade their infrastructure but they're really behind in doing so.

The option I use to trade from Kyiv is cable broadband via Volia Cable, a local cable TV and broadband Internet provider. Their site is here: http://www.volia.com. As far as I am aware they don't have any information in English. I pay about USD 50 per month for 2 Gigabyte of traffic which is just enough for trading :). The speed is 2 Megabit, and the line is quite stable (with the occasional disconnects since they mostly go through Ukrtelecom. Please note that they do not cover the whole of Kyiv, which as you probably know is about a 4 million people city.

ADSL is available through a number of providers but I find it rather expensive, and anyway where I live in Kyiv I can't use it due to the old analog phone systems. The quotes on leased lines you received are accurate unfortunately! :)

I am not aware of any information in English from any of the broadband Internet providers. Perhaps that will change once the promised government reforms will finally attract more foreign investment and foreigners to live here.

I have no info on Odessa unfortunately.
 
In Odessa, people were sitting outside a very cool cafe using laptops on wifi in the summer of 2004. It was overlooking a park just off the main street.
 
KyivTrader,

thank you for your detailed explanation!
Unfortunately, pretty disturbing.

I already had got the impression, that
there is no real large network backbone, like you have many in the western world, by L3, ex.Worldcom or Deutsche Telekom.
This is probably the source of the problem and the reason why traffic is so extremely expensive.
 
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