Internet is proposed to be put on the list of widely accessible services at the legislative level, Chair of the National Communications Regulatory Commission Petro Yatsuk told the press. “The policy will allow ensuring access to the Internet for every citizen,” he said, specifying that today 70-80% of the population in provincial centers and Kyiv regularly use the Internet, while only 10-20% of the county’s population living in county centers use the worldwide web.

The idea is that every provider of Internet, telephony and mobile communications should a social package allowing every person to have a so-called “Internet minimum”. “At this point we are discussing a speed of 128 kps,” Yatsuk admitted. “Our task is to make sure that every Ukrainian has the opportunity to follow the news and exchange information,” he went on.

Yatsuk declined to speculate on how much a social package might cost, but “even today one have a decent speed of data transfer for a mere UAH 50 per month” he said. This means the Internet “for the paupers” should be considerably cheaper. “The plans are to submit a bill to the parliament this summer,” says the NCRC chief, “As soon as it is adopted, we can cover 90% of the country. The remaining 10% are remote villages where there is not Internet or telephony connection at all.”