Mobile proxies are still the go-to “shield” for arbitrage teams, SMM farms, and agencies when they need multi-accounting, geo-testing, or to avoid bans triggered by suspicious IP patterns. But which geo—Ukrainian or European—brings more upside in 2025? Let’s walk through six key factors and see why there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.
1. Speed & Bandwidth
- Ukraine. Over the past year mobile speeds have risen: the median download is about 46 Mbps—enough for clicks, posting, and moderate video.
- EU. Results vary, but even “mid-tier” Poland tops 100 Mbps on 4 G and up to 405 Mbps on 5 G.
In practice: If a script is uploading hundreds of Reels or YouTube Shorts, an EU IP cuts time-outs and warm-up time. For day-to-day social-media farming, the difference is hardly noticeable.
2. Do You Need a Passport to Launch a SIM Pool?
| Geo | Prepaid-SIM rules | Impact on proxy farms |
|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | On government-controlled territory SIM cards are sold without a passport; no mandatory national ID | Instant scaling—buy a batch of SIMs and start ads in minutes |
| Occupied areas | By 1 July 2025 all numbers must be registered to a Russian passport | Only “passport” SIMs are available |
| EU | Most countries (DE, IT, FR, etc.) require a passport or ID when buying a prepaid SIM | Slower to start, but Meta and TikTok give accounts higher baseline trust |
3. Port Cost
- UA pool: A 4 G/5 G modem with unlimited data costs 30–40 USD/month (Apr–May 2025).
- EU pool: Poland & Romania start at 45–50 USD; warmer iGaming geos (ES, IT) are 60–70 USD; premium spots like DE or NL reach 100 USD+.
The 1.5–3× gap makes Ukrainian IPs the perfect sandbox for fast hypotheses and risky “gray” offers.
4. Network Resilience
- Ukraine: Russian strikes forced operators to boost backup. Regulators now require base stations to stay online up to 10 h without mains. Kyivstar has bought hundreds of generators and tens of thousands of batteries.
- EU: No systematic blackouts, but full “clean” 5 G SA deployment is slower—CAPEX goes to energy efficiency rather than radio upgrades.
In practice: If your business can’t tolerate 15-minute “holes,” keep an EU fail-over or at least mirror your UA pool across all three operators.
5. How Platforms View Different IPs
| Platform | “Top priority” | Whose geo clears moderation more easily |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Ads | Stable ASN + verified SIM | EU (passport SIM boosts baseline trust) |
| TikTok Smart | Fast IP rotation + unique device fingerprint | UA (cheaper to “burn” SIMs if banned) |
| Google Ads / SEO scraping | Different Cell-IDs + realistic user agent | Tie—quality proxy & swap frequency matter more |
6. Scenarios & Best Geo
- Mass TikTok arbitrage, NFT drops — Ukraine wins on cost and scaling speed.
- Long-lived Meta accounts for white brands — Europe pays for itself with fewer bans and manual reviews.
- Marketplace scraping, price monitoring — Unlimited UA traffic delivers the best cost per GB.
- iGaming split tests — EU pools see higher CR thanks to “clean” IPs unlinked to gray arbitrage.
2025 Playbook
- Testing & aggressive bulk: run through Ukrainian ports—minimal spend, rapid scaling, blackout-tolerant with smart rotation.
- Final roll-out, brands, white-hat: move to European SIMs, where passport KYC boosts trust and lowers risk scores.
- Hybrid: an arbitrageur’s best friend—keep 1–2 EU modems as an “insurance policy” and a main UA pool for everyday tasks.
