Updated Fire Safety Rules: What Will Change for Mobile Network Base Stations
Time for Action analyzed the update of State Building Codes (DBN) in the area of fire safety of telecom infrastructure, which has become one of the most indicative decisions in the communications sector in recent times. It concerns the cancellation of the mandatory requirement to install autonomous fire extinguishing systems in the premises of separately located base stations of mobile operators. This norm had been in force since 2014 and was formed under conditions of a different technological level of equipment, different energy characteristics, and a different understanding of risks. The key meaning of the changes lies not in lowering the level of safety, but in abandoning an outdated regulatory logicthat no longer corresponds to the real operating conditions of modern base stations. Modern telecom equipment is energy-efficient and non-combustible, and the level of fire risk at such facilities is assessed as low. It was this factor that became the basis for revising requirements that had remained unchanged for years despite technological development. As a result, the state removed a norm that had effectively ceased to perform a protective function but continued to create significant financial costs for operators. For telecom companies, this means the opportunity to redistribute resourcesfrom formal compliance with outdated requirements toward network development, coverage expansion, and service quality improvement. This is precisely the practical effect of the decision: funds that were previously invested in expensive fire extinguishing equipment can now be directed to 4G and 5G, new base stations, and increasing network resilience. The position of the state on this issue is formulated directly and without double interpretations:
“This decision will allow mobile operators to plan investments more effectively and direct additional resources to the development of critical infrastructure in Ukraine.” It is important that this decision is not a one-sided gesture toward business. It became the result of joint work by operators, профильні ministries, and members of parliament, as well as a response to a specific request from the market. The initiative to review the requirement was raised by Kyivstar through the state platform “Pulse”, which was created for systematic dialogue between business and the state. This case shows that regulatory changes can occur not formally, but based on analysis of real costs, risks, and technological change.
Special attention should be paid to the issue of European practice. The DBN update synchronizes Ukrainian requirements with approaches long applied in EU countries. This means not only simplification of procedures for construction and maintenance of base stations, but also protection of expensive telecom equipment from possible damage that could be caused by outdated aerosol fire extinguishing systems. In this sense, the decision simultaneously removes regulatory pressure and reduces technical risks for networks. These changes do not exist in a vacuum. They are part of a broader state policy aimed at the resilience of mobile communications under wartime conditions. In parallel, a number of legislative decisions were adopted that strengthen requirements for service quality and make communications not just a market service, but an element of national security. In particular, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Law No. 4670-IX, which established mobile internet speed as an official control indicator and improved the mechanism of national roaming. This allows networks of different operators to back each other up in the event of infrastructure damage due to shelling or accidents. Also, on November 4 the Verkhovna Rada adopted draft law No. 12094, which updates the rules in the field of electronic communications and brings them closer to EU standards. The document provides for the establishment of fixed indicators of mobile internet speed, within which operators are obliged to provide services. Thus, the state simultaneously tightens requirements for results and removes unnecessary barriers on the way to achieving those results.
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A practical continuation of this policy was the acceleration of permitting procedures. Mobile operators received about 100 permits for the placement of new base stations under a simplified procedure. If previously this process could take up to two years, now the average term is about 25 working days. One of the first regions where construction began under the new rules was Sumy Oblast, for which stable communication is critically important. Permits were also actively issued in Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Lviv, and Rivne Oblasts. Against the backdrop of systematic attacks on energy infrastructure, the state separately built a mechanism for operational crisis management in the communications sector. For this purpose, a coordination headquarters was created to ensure uninterrupted operation of communication networks during blackouts and shelling. Its task is to forecast risks, ensure priority fuel supply for generators, quick access of repair teams to damaged facilities, and minimization of bureaucratic delays. The headquarters is headed by First Vice Prime Minister Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.
In this context, the decision on DBN appears as a logical element of a single system. The state proceeds from the understanding that an air raid alert signal, a call to relatives, or calling an ambulance are impossible without stable communication, and therefore every hryvnia spent on telecom infrastructure must work toward its resilience, not toward formal compliance with norms that have lost their meaning. The extended conclusion of Time for Action is that the cancellation of mandatory fire extinguishing systems in separately located base stations is an example of a mature regulatory decision. The state does not lower safety standards, but rethinks them based on real risks and modern technologies. In wartime conditions, such logic acquires special significance: resources must go where they strengthen the country, not where they maintain inertia of past years. Updated DBN allow operators to invest in coverage, redundancy, speed, and network resilience, and this directly affects society’s ability to remain connected when communication becomes a matter of safety and survival.
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