Ukrainian People Fight Isolation Without Cell Towers

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

Kyivstar, a mobile and internet service provider in Mariupol, located in southeast Ukraine, had 148 cell towers up and running when the Russians invaded the eastern European country. The wireless signals they transmitted were a critical lifeline, connecting loved ones and providing information to citizens. But working cell towers are becoming scarce. “One by one all these base stations went down,” Volodymyr Lutchenko, Kyivstar’s chief technology officer, told Wired Magazine. “First of all, because of the power connection, then because of the physical damage.” Now, with a death toll that stands at 5,000, and 90 percent of buildings damaged, 170,000 people in Mariupol are trapped, with no way to communicate to the outside world through traditional methods. But if the Ukrainians have taught the world anything, it is that they are a resourceful and resilient people. Using apps downloaded from the internet, they are communicating using the bluetooth signals on their cell phones to create mesh communications networks. Continue Reading