While many development plans are at a standstill around the world, some telecommunications initiatives are still being unveiled. Hungary, for example, has invited proposals for the funding of its latest superfast internet rollout initiative.

SatADSL and YahClick have partnered to expand connectivity across Sub-Saharan Africa.

India’s handset manufacturers are facing an even more uncertain time since the Ministry of Home Affairs’ decision last weekend that non-essentials cannot be sold online during the nationwide lockdown. ‘Non-essentials’ in this case includes smartphones.

Yemen’s Al Kuraimi Islamic Bank is replacing its legacy IT systems with a single cloud-native, cloud-agnostic digital banking platform from Temenos to underpin its banking operations.

The adjusted gross revenue story is back in the news in India as Vodafone Idea has asked the government for more time to pay its AGR-based dues for the January-March 2020 period.

We now not only know that the South African regulator has released emergency spectrum to a number of service providers, as requested by the government, but we also know who those service providers are.

Nanosatellite manufacturer and mission integrator NanoAvionics, together with the Mexican Space Agency (AEM), is planning to introduce a nanosatellite pilot project for future space missions.

Turkcell, the leading mobile network operator in Turkey with around 34 million subscribers, has selected Mavenir, a cloud-native network software provider, to deploy its cloud-native, network functions virtualization (NFV)-based IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) solution.

Recent media reports indicate that Google has plans for a submarine cable connecting India and Italy via Israel. The cable will reach Israel in 2022.

A lengthening list of countries putting off the auction of 5G spectrum just got longer as Poland announced plans to delay the process.

The Slovakian regulator – the Office for Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services (also known as Regulacny Urad or RU) – has announced that it will be going ahead with an auction of 5G-capable spectrum.

South Africa recently announced the allocation of extra spectrum on a temporary basis to operators facing high demand during the lockdown. Now it's Ghana’s turn.

Zimbabwe’s second-biggest operator, the state-owned service provider NetOne, is expecting a rise in subscriber numbers after the announcement of a recent government initiative.

The launch of the Philippines new third player DITO (formerly Mislatel) is “on track” in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic.

3 Indonesia has deployed Nokia’s 3G-4G dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) technology in its live network infrastructure to dynamically extend its 4G bandwidth when the demand for 3G subsides.

Indonesia’s new Nusantara Dua (Palapa N1) satellite did not enter its allocated orbital slot on schedule and has reportedly been destroyed.

South African operator Vodacom is to spend more than $27 million to add network capacity during the lockdown that is in place while the country tries to manage the spread of the coronavirus.

After yesterday’s reports of continued cable repair delays near Vietnam, some better news comes from Malaysia, where Telekom Malaysia has quickly restored international capacity lost due to a submarine cable fault.

Vodafone Qatar has deployed commercial VoLTE services, allowing subscribers to make high definition (HD+) calls over its network.

When we reported early last week on the latest issue facing the Asia America Gateway (AAG) undersea cable – and internet users in Vietnam – it wasn’t clear how long repairs would take. We now know it could be another week before normal service is resumed.

Ncell has paid off the full NPR22.44 billion (US$182 million) capital gains tax (CGT) bill that it was issued by Nepal’s tax authority.

Restrictions on movement due to the coronavirus are not just affecting bandwidth demand and base station rollout in India. Now telecommunications tower companies are looking for guarantees of uninterrupted power supply for the duration of the lockdown.

It will come as no surprise in the circumstances that the South African regulator ICASA has received an enthusiastic response to its offer of temporary spectrum.

Magyar Telekom, Hungary’s biggest telecommunications company, and Ericsson have launched commercial 5G in Hungary.

Croatia’s Optima Telekom is delaying a stake sale originally scheduled for this year, even if it is able to find a buyer.

Local news reports indicate that Liberian mobile operator Lonestar Cell-MTN is succeeding in its efforts to boost coverage to remote towns and villages across the country.

There has been another regulatory shift in India as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has adjusted its stance on infrastructure installation in response to industry requests. The DoT is also being asked to intervene in the ongoing debt issues facing two state-owned operators.

Telenor Pakistan and Ericsson have signed an agreement through which Ericsson will transform the Telenor Pakistan mobile backhaul network into an IP-based infrastructure.