According to recent reports in the southern African press, Namibia's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) last week launched its National Broadband Policy together with what it calls an Implementation Action Plan.

MTN Group, the largest mobile operator in Africa, has chosen TEOCO, a provider of analytics, assurance and optimization solutions, to standardize its radio and microwave network planning tools.

Indosat Ooredoo has cut 677 jobs in a bid to deal with fierce competition in the Indonesia mobile market.

Zambia could issue a fifth mobile licence, according to new reports.

Cellcom looks set to face competition to purchase Golan Telecom after fellow Israeli operator Bezeq declared its interest in an acquisition.

News reports from Kenya indicate that the country is edging closer to 5G rollout. The early indications are that leading operator Safaricom, pioneer of mobile money and the dominant force in the market, with close to two thirds of all subscribers, will be the first company to launch 5G.

Malaysia has stated that it will adhere to its own security standards in selecting vendor partners as it prepares to deploy 5G this year.

Orange Egypt has implemented Ericsson’s digital billing solutions as part of a push towards digitalisation in the market.

Polish operator Polkomtel – branded as Plus - has chosen Ericsson to supply equipment for its 5G Radio Access Network.

Telekom Slovenije and Iskratel are partnering to develop 5G networking solutions.

The Belgian development agency Enabel has partnered with SES, a supplier of global content connectivity solutions, to connect foreign aid projects in Africa via satellite.

5G activity continues apace in the Middle East, with a new smart campus initiative announced in Saudi Arabia and a 26GHz 5G launch planned for the UAE – potentially this year.

Indonesia’s XL Axiata has sold off nearly 2,800 towers with an estimated value of IDR4.05 trillion ($296 million) to alleviate its debt burden.

In what it describes as a regional first, Zain Group, a mobile telecom company working in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, has announced a tower leaseback deal.

Ooredoo a communications company with a customer base of more than 100 million across the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, has announced a new IoT initiative in Qatar: an industrial metering solution.

Thai regulator NBTC has cleared all five of the applications received for its upcoming spectrum auction, paving the way for a lucrative round of bidding.

Millicom, under its Tigo brand, has selected Affirmed Networks, which supports mobile network 5G transformation, as a strategic partner for the deployment of its cloud-based, 5G-ready core network in Latin America.

Telecom Argentina has signed a deal with Nokia allowing it to offer IoT services to its enterprise customers in the country and across Latin America using Nokia Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING).

Are the 2019 results announced recently by Emirati operator du positive, negative or both? It rather depends on how they are interpreted, it seems.

East Africa’s YOTVChannels and MTN Uganda have introduced a new TV streaming plan in Uganda that includes mobile users in its target audience.

North Macedonia’s regulator, the Agency for Electronic Communications (AEK), is planning to award 5G spectrum in the second half of this year and has opened a public consultation on the initiative.

Ukraine is allowing the repurposing of 800MHz and 900MHz spectrum to facilitate deployments of 4G/LTE mobile networks.

According to local press reports, UZI Zambia Mobile, the latest operator entrant in the Zambian mobile market, is still not up and running, despite acquiring a concession to operate in Zambia as long ago as April 2018.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp subsidiary Comtech EF Data Corp has selected by Bansat S.A. to supply satellite communications ground equipment to support the Aeronautica Civil de Colombia’s backup communications network for 28 airports in Colombia.

Recent figures released by the Emirates News Agency confirm what many of us suspected: connectivity in the UAE has reached extraordinary levels.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s (MIIT) has granted China Telecom, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Network licences that will enable them to deliver indoor coverage via the 3.3GHz to 3.4GHz band.

High-performance internet connectivity was restored in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) within just four days after the West Africa Cable System (WACS) undersea cable cut, thanks to the combined efforts of Gilat Telecom and SES.

Globe Telecom has detailed its 5G deployment plans for the Philippines across the next year.