Turkey’s leading mobile phone operator Turkcell has launched Ukraine’s first 3G GSM network service, the company said on Saturday.

On Friday, the company began offering the 3G service to Ukrainian customers through the Life:) brand. Turkcell has a 55 percent stake in the brand.

“Today we not only changed the lives of people living in Ukraine with 3G service but we also shortened the distance between our countries,” Turkcell Chairman Ahmet Akca said.

Chief Executive Kaan Terzioglu added: “Ukraine is a success story in Turkcell's international operations and it will be a pilot country for us in carrying our experience to other countries in the region.”

Customers will be able to enjoy data speeds of up to 63.3 megabytes per second.