More than 100 objects and 2500 meters of cable. How Datagroup-Volia connects Kyiv bomb shelters to the Internet.
February 24 changed the life of the people of Kiev and all Ukrainians forever. It was from that day that the inhabitants of Ukrainian cities, against their will, learned what “arrivals” are and where the nearest shelters and bomb shelters are located.
From the first days, it was the residents of the capital who most often became targets for enemy attacks and shelling. They had to spend more than one sleepless night in bomb shelters and basements of houses. And then a problem arose that no one had thought about before. The vast majority of shelters have no connection with the outside world. In 80% mobile communication does not work.
The lack of communication at a time when shells and rockets are falling on almost all Ukrainian cities, where your relatives and friends are located, who are now in danger, is a great tragedy.
It was this problem that Ukrainian providers responded to, and one of the first was Datagroup-Volia. The leading portal Delo.ua asked Andrey Val, technical director of Datagroup-Volia, about the process of connecting bomb shelters, what was the motivation for this, what problems were expected, and much more.
When did they start conducting the Internet in shelters?
From the first days of the war, Datagroup-Volia began to implement a program to connect civilian bomb shelters to free high-speed Internet. This, like many other things, is our contribution to our future victory.
How many shelters have been connected?
We have connected more than 400 objects in 18 regions of Ukraine. More than 100 of them in Kyiv. If we talk about the regions, then in Rivne - more than 60, in the Dnipropetrovsk region - 50, in Kharkiv - 20.
Now we continue to connect shelters and implement a program to connect humanitarian centers for internally displaced persons. For example, several dormitories have already been connected in Rivne, where migrants from the east of the country are accommodated. This is very important, because children need to continue their education, and adults need to maintain contact with loved ones who remained in the war zones.
In Kyiv, in which districts did you connect more?
Most of all, we connected shelters in the Dniprovsky district - 26. In second place is the Darnitsky district. There we connected 15 shelters. In total, we have provided over 10,000 people with communications!
Is this a free service?
Yes - it's completely free. Moreover, we opened access to 22 national TV channels. Now people have full TV on any digital device thanks to our VoliaTV app. No matter where you are - anywhere where there is internet, you have access to television!
Was it your initiative or a request from the authorities or clients?
At first it was our own initiative. We communicated with representatives of condominiums, housing departments and initiative residents to connect shelters. Subsequently, we actively cooperated with government agencies, for example, with the KSCA and regional administrations. In particular, in Kyiv, we actively cooperated with the Kyiv Digital platform, where everyone could easily leave a request to connect the asylum. We immediately worked on such an application and started working on the connection.
What difficulties did you face in the beginning? How were they solved?
The main difficulties arose due to the fact that most basements and bomb shelters were closed all the time. The person who asked to connect often does not know where the keys are. Most often, this problem was solved by contacting the housing office or simply had to knock on every door and ask someone for the key to the basement. Colleagues from the Kyiv City State Administration helped us a lot here - they provided the contacts of the coordinator on the issue of access to the storage facilities, thanks to which we solved this problem very quickly.
Another obstacle was the wariness of people towards unknown (albeit in the form of a provider) people who open the basement and carry out some kind of work there. Several times even called the police, but everything was quickly resolved. Some people did not pick up the phone from unknown numbers out of fear. In this case, we turned to the coordinators of the Kyiv City State Administration with a request to call the person back so that he would answer our call.
How does the process of connecting to bomb shelters differ from working in houses and apartments?
Of course, connecting a bomb shelter to the Internet is much more difficult. Connect the apartment - run a cable from the access point on the floor to the subscriber's apartment, connect and configure.
To connect a bomb shelter or shelter, you need to find a connection point (where to pull the cable from), find a place to place an access point (so that the signal is at any point in the shelter), find an outlet (which was sometimes mounted on site) to which to connect equipment. Sometimes it is necessary to install multiple routers to cover the entire shelter.
So since February, we have laid more than 2,500 meters of cable to connect bomb shelters.
Maybe there was a particularly memorable incident.
Once, the owners of the cafe wrote to us and asked us to connect them to the Internet. At first we were a little surprised, but nevertheless we arrived at the site. And it turned out not in vain. The owners of the cafe right before their eyes were rebuilding their establishment, which was located on the basement floor in a storage facility for residents of neighboring houses. In the same establishment, they fed people free meals. We were immediately imbued with such dedication and quickly connected them to a free connection.
And what was the most difficult case.
The most difficult case, as such, does not exist. Each connected storage is a "quest" - somewhere to drag 100 m of cable, somewhere they looked for the keys to the basement, somewhere they negotiated with residents and convinced that it was "Will", and we provide them with free Internet in the shelter.
What feedback from people?
In the early days of the war, people were very scared. When you sit in a bomb shelter, without communication, and think only about one thing - that everything will be fine and the alarm will end. We helped to establish communication - and people became calmer. In some shelters, children were in classes on Zoom, and volunteers coordinated help to other people via the Internet. In general, people actively used the Internet, for which we received a huge amount of thanks!
Are you still connecting shelters?
Yes, of course, the bomb shelter program continues, unfortunately, like the war. If your hideout does not yet have internet, please email ukrytia@volia.com. Our specialists will come to you as soon as the situation in your area allows.
Are there any speed limits?
We did not limit the speed and provided the maximum available. But the access point "shares" the speed for all connected. That is, if during the shelling 50 or 100 people descended into the shelter and all connected to the same Wi-Fi, then the speed of each will decrease. This is why we have pre-installed "advanced model" routers in large shelters for better signal and higher throughput.
In general, how did the full-scale invasion affect the quality of services?
We built an extensive network of trunk lines throughout the country, so the quality of service was affected by the war, but not significantly. If an accident occurs on the Lviv-Kyiv line, we simply switch traffic to another line. And at this time, workers leave to establish the network. So, since the beginning of the war, we have closed more than 20,000 applications for accidents and damage to the network. 45% of these claims are related to combat damage. Our technicians work 24/7 and, sometimes risking their lives, carry out repairs on the ground.
Are people currently in storage?
Yes, but this number has been decreasing since the beginning of the war. So far, only 5-10% of those who have used it since the beginning of the war descend into shelters.
What can you advise the people of Kiev and all Ukrainians in such difficult times?
Dear compatriots, we call on you! Now each of us is doing everything to bring victory closer. Please do not neglect the air raid signals. This could save your life. Get down into bomb shelters and cellars. Datagroup-Volia will do its best to keep you in touch even there.
