Ethiopia was one of the last countries in Africa to allow its national telco a monopoly on all telecom services including fixed, mobile, internet and data communications, reports Research & Markets.

Following the announcement that it has permission to operate in Kenya, Loon has said that it is expanding its footprint in Africa.

Reliance Industries has attracted a further INR113.7 billion ($1.5 billion) of investment into its Jio Platforms tech unit, this time from Vista Equity Partners.

Recent Indian news reports have suggested that discussions earlier this week involving the Digital Communications Commission, the Department of Telecommunications’ highest decision-making body, may presage a delay in the 5G spectrum auction process.

Poland is still optimistic that 5G spectrum will be sold at auction this year even though it has delayed the sale of 3.4GHz-3.8GHz licences.

Emergent Telecommunications has selected du and Batelco’s joint venture Arc as the lead consultant for the Orient Express submarine cable system.

It looks like someone has jumped the gun on 5G rollout in Nigeria, as the country’s telecommunications regulator has felt obliged to challenge recent reports that have appeared on social media.

Following the example of its neighbour South Africa, where MTN Group, Vodacom, Telkom, Liquid Telecom and Rain Networks have all been granted temporary additional spectrum, Zimbabwe has also announced plans to free up spectrum for emergency use.

NASSCOM, India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies, has been asked to respond to calls from the country’s IT sector seeking changes to the country’s taxation and labour laws as the industry gears up to deliver more services remotely.

Airtel Uganda and Avaya are teaming up to facilitate remote working and learning for organisations across Uganda in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19 (coronavirus).

Revenue from the telecom sector in the Maldives is limited by the relatively small local population, though it is supported by a considerable influx of tourists, reports Research & Markets.

Kazakhstan’s three main operators have agreed to collaborate on a shared network to boost mobile broadband coverage in remote regions.

Given all the other problems the Indian mobile communications sector has, delays to permissions for installing mobile infrastructure are probably less than welcome, but that is the issue that is now being highlighted by Indian media.

Azercosmos, a major satellite operator in the South Caucasus, has signed a partnership agreement with TheAngle, a company that provides satellite network services in the Middle East.

Polkomtel, a leading telecommunications operator in Poland, which provides services under the Plus brand, has announced the launch of the country’s first commercial 5G network.

Vodafone Cook Islands and Avaroa Cable have announced that they are working together to prepare for the Manatua Cable going live later this year.

Timor-Leste has been pressing ahead with the regeneration of its economy and the rebuilding of infrastructure, reports Research & Markets.

Recent announcements from Italian service provider and global operator Sparkle include a Pacific cable enhancement and a new point of presence in Morocco.

A flurry of recent announcements from Poland, Vietnam, South Africa and Thailand underlines the continuing growth of data centres and cloud services in diverse locations around the world.

Service provider IENTC Telecomunicaciones has selected Telia Carrier’s IP Transit backbone services to provide low latency, high capacity services to its consumer and enterprise customers.

Could a holiday from fine payment in exchange for better coverage be the new trend for operators in Brazil – or even elsewhere? 

5G may be a major talking point just about everywhere, but 4G migration is still underway in many markets. The board of state-owned Indian operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has recently approved two vendors for a 4G migration project worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mozambique’s TMcel has at long last begun conducting trials of its 4G network.

Kuwaiti operator Zain Kuwait has announced that it is deploying the full traffic management suite from Enea, a supplier of software components for telecommunications and cybersecurity, to amplify its 4G and 5G network deployments.

Lebanon's government is to take back management of the country's two state-owned mobile phone networks, Alfa and Touch, after the recent expiration of the latest contracts given to the groups that have been running the networks until now.

BHD Leon, a leading bank in the Dominican Republic, is implementing Temenos Transact as part of its digital transformation program.

Is the Indian lockdown being eased for smartphone sale and manufacturing along with tower installation? No one seems to be quite sure.

All three of Algeria’s mobile operators have come under fire from the country’s regulator ARPCE (Autorite de Regulation de la Poste et des Communications Electroniques).

A fascinating side effect of the coronavirus-led lockdowns in multiple countries is their impact on payment methods – and notably payment methods in India, where a recent report says, digital payments are surging.