Malaysian operator Tune Talk has taken a major step in its evolution from mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) to fully fledged mobile network operator (MNO), partnering with Mavenir to run its own end-to-end network.

MoneyHash, a payment orchestration platform built for emerging and global markets, has announced a new partnership with Wayl, a local payment solutions provider, checkout engine, and merchant of record supporting global and regional businesses entering the Iraqi market.

Regional multilateral development finance institution the African Development Bank Group and the United Nations Development Programme have announced a “transformative" continental drive to accelerate responsible artificial intelligence adoption and inclusive digital economic growth across Africa.

The GSMA launched a new innovation fund on Monday to support small enterprises that use mobile and digital technologies to transition to green practices in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Tata Communications announced on Monday it is partnering with RailTel Corporation of India to fortify the latter’s fibre backbone infrastructure to support AI development in the country.

The Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) said on Friday it has granted Orange Money a separate license to operate as a mobile money service provider under new regulations requiring telcos to decouple from their mobile money subsidiaries.

Google has announced an investment of US$500 million in the construction of submarine cables and an international digital exchange port for the Dominican Republic. This will apparently be the company’s eighth digital exchange port in the world and the first in Latin America.

Bharti Airtel has strengthened its cybersecurity strategy by launching a new AI & Cyber Threat Research Centre in India, in partnership with US-based cloud security firm Zscaler.

Payment giant Visa says it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire two payment-related companies in Argentina – Prisma Medios de Pago and Newpay – from global private equity investor Advent International.

Ethio Telecom announced on Friday it has launched an internet-based video streaming service called “teleStream”, which it’s positioning as an alternative to satellite TV.

MTN Digital infrastructure – a.k.a. Bayobab – announced on Saturday that its subsidiary Bayobab Zambia has partnered with Vodacom Mozambique to interconnect their fibre networks at the Zambia–Mozambique border.

Indonesian mobile operator Telkomsel has officially implemented facial recognition as a verification tool for new prepaid SIM registrations, after almost a year and a half of trialling the technology.

Nigerian operators have settled a long-running unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) payment dispute with commercial banks. It seems that, five years after the dispute began, all outstanding payments have now been made.

Colocation data centre services provider, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres  (STT GDC) has announced the launch of its fourth data centre in the Indian city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, marking the expansion of its second campus in the city at Siruseri, a southern suburb of Chennai.

The Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) has reportedly secured conditional approval from the State Audit Bureau (SAB) to award a KWD19.9 million (US$64.8 million) contract for a project to modernise Kuwait’s fixed-line telecoms infrastructure.

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin announced on Thursday it is partnering with IPification to commercialize its Mobile Network Verification (MNV) solution, which leverages Telkom’s network APIs to authenticate users without the need for OTPs.

Finnfund, the Finnish development financier and impact investor, says it has made a follow-on investment in a company called Communication & Renewable Energy Infrastructure (CREI) to scale up sustainable telecom energy infrastructure in South Sudan.

Terranova, the hyperscale data centre platform backed by the Actis infrastructure fund, described as one of the largest and longest-standing sustainable infrastructure investors globally, has launched its first data centre in Mexico.

Nvidia’s latest survey reveals artificial intelligence is delivering tangible commercial impact across telecommunications, becoming central to network automation and investment strategies as operators prepare for next-generation services.

Three Southern African nations – Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho – have been in the news after plans to improve local and regional connectivity were announced.

International network services provider RETN says it has launched a new fibre backbone route between Estonia and Latvia as part of its broader expansion plan to diversify connectivity between Northern and Central Europe.

Google Cloud announced on Thursday that it will build three new subsea cables connecting India to the US via South Africa, Singapore and Australia as part of its grand plan to establish an AI hub in India.

Microsoft said it remains on track to invest US$50 billion by 2030 to expand access to artificial intelligence across emerging markets in the Global South, framing the move as part of a broader effort to narrow what it calls the growing “AI divide”.

Telecommunications technology giant Ericsson and Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, have announced a collaboration they claim can reshape how money moves across the world – beginning with the Middle East and Africa.

Cloud-native banking platform 10x Banking has announced a strategic partnership with HassemPrag, a leading African digital banking and orchestration platform, targeting African banks.

Ghana’s regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), has announced revised key performance indicators (KPIs) for mobile telecommunications quality of service (QoS).

In an interesting example of an operator taking its sustainability message right into the public marketplace, service provider Hutch Sri Lanka has launched the first in what it promises will be a number of sustainability-led retail outlets.

MTN Congo has reportedly connected to the 2Africa subsea cable system, bolstering its international connectivity and reducing the risk of future service disruptions.