Space solutions company SES and JioStar, South Asia’s largest media conglomerate, have announced a new multi-year deal. It comes only weeks after the inauguration of a new SES office in Chennai in southern India.

The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system consortium has selected high-speed connectivity specialist Ciena to upgrade one of the key routes in the system that links Western Europe, West Africa and South Africa.

Cameroon’s state-owned operator Camtel said on Thursday it has received a second delivery of telecoms equipment from China to begin the next phase of its MNE (Mobile Network Expansion) project.

UAE-based telco du said on Friday it has teamed with Nokia to deploy six-carrier aggregation across FDD and TDD spectrum on its commercial standalone 5G-Advanced network, which it’s claiming as a world-first.

Ericsson announced on Thursday that Vodafone Egypt has commercially deployed its AI-powered RAN Processor 6672 that will enable the telco to run AI directly at Ericsson radio sites rather than at a central AI location.

Indonesian service provider XLSmart has announced that it has begun construction work on the 8,000-kilometre Candle Cable System, a subsea cable linking Southeast Asia and Japan.

Zambia’s Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has cancelled the operator licence of Beeline, which operated under the Z-Mobile brand, for failing to meet several regulatory obligations.

African digital infrastructure provider WIOCC is to receive investment of up to $155 million from the US International Development Finance Corporation.

EllaLink, which describes itself as the first high-capacity fibre-optic submarine cable directly connecting Latin America to Europe, has announced that two branching units have been successfully laid.

Axian Telecom, the pan-African infrastructure and services group behind telecommunications company Yas, has announced that it is adopting Yas Group as its new corporate identity, replacing the Axian Telecom name across external communications, investor relations and regulatory engagement.

Airtel Africa is winding up its Kenyan wholesale fibre and internet subsidiary after two years of operation, following losses and an inability to establish a viable commercial business.

Nokia announced Tuesday it’s collaborating with global connectivity provider Telxius to deploy 800G coherent pluggable optics across its terrestrial transport networks in Latin America, Europe and the US.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) revealed that it’s been unable to restore access to its data centres in Bahrain and one of its three data centres in the UAE after they were damaged by Iranian drone strikes earlier this year.

The Smart Africa Secretariat, an alliance tasked with driving Africa’s digital agenda, and Kitsoft, an international govtech company with Ukrainian roots, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on public sector digital transformation.

A three-judge High Court bench in Kenya has ordered that a 15% Kenyan government stake transferred to Vodacom should revert to the State after ruling that the transaction was unconstitutional.

Veon Digital Financial Group and Veon-owned Beeline Kazakhstan announced on Tuesday they have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the National Bank of Kazakhstan to explore the development of digital payment services in the country.

Tencent Cloud announced on Tuesday it has signed an MoU with Malaysian 5G operator U Mobile to explore development of practical 5G and AI solutions for enterprises and SMEs.

Cybastion, a US company that delivers digital and infrastructure solutions in Africa, reportedly plans to mobilise about US$300 million for several projects supporting Senegal's digital transformation.

Russian mobile phone operators have launched their first commercial 5G networks across 16 major cities, according to an announcement last Friday from the country’s Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Ministry.

The GSMA has warned that rising smartphone component costs could widen the digital divide as 3.1 billion people remain offline despite living within mobile broadband coverage.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is funding a feasibility study for a new submarine cable system linking Thailand with the US via up to five other Southeast Asian countries.

Digital Realty announced on Monday it has formed a strategic joint venture with Turkish investment company Rönesans Infrastructure to develop and operate next-generation data centres across Turkey.

Singapore-based global payment platform Thunes announced on Monday that it’s expanding its cross-border payments network across the Middle East in six new markets: Bahrain, Lebanon, Oman, South Yemen, Syria and the UAE.

Digicel announced on Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its El Salvador operations to General International Telecom El Salvador (GITES) as it sharpen its focus on its core Caribbean markets.

Bangladesh telcos Grameenphone and Robi Axiata have launched separate AI subscription services that aim to make overseas AI models easier to access and pay for.

Space42, the UAE-based AI-powered SpaceTech company, and satcoms giant Viasat have signed a binding agreement to co-found Equatys, creating the first shared space and ground infrastructure platform for global direct-to-device and advanced MSS connectivity.

Confirming Nigeria’s plans to expand its satellite resources, telecommunications and technology giant Thales Alenia Space says it has won a contract to build the NigComSat-2A geostationary telecommunications satellite.

In what could prove an important boost for the drive towards enabling cash-free economies in the developing world, the World Bank Group has launched an initiative to help local financial institutions expand digital payments in emerging markets.