Djibouti and Somaliland are at loggerheads over the installation and proposed route of the DARE1 (Djibouti Africa Regional Express 1) submarine cable.

As might be expected, the continuing drive to get 5G auctions and rollouts under way is throwing up a number of controversies. The latest policy debates have taken place in Poland and the Czech Republic.

It seems that industry sympathy for Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel after the two Indian operators were hit with a massive bill for unpaid dues may not be shared by some members of the general public.

OneWeb has partnered with Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) to boost broadband connectivity in Kazakhstan.

In an extraordinary series of announcements, the giant Chinese equipment maker ZTE has highlighted the potential role of telecommunications in disease management – and specifically management of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in China.

There’s been an interesting development in Angola, where oil and telecoms are two components of a new sale involving troubled Brazilian carrier Oi.

Ghanaian bank GCB has stated that it will launch its G-Money mobile money platform on 30^th January.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has deployed Nokia’s technology to expand the capacity of its recently installed 100G transport network to 200G optical network for both domestic and international traffic.

The government of Croatia is pushing for a 5G launch in the country’s fourth-largest city, Osijek, by the end of the year.

The cable breaks we reported earlier this week are still disrupting communications in parts of Africa and will do so for a while – but help is on the way, according to regional press reports.

Russia’s MegaFon is entering into Fixed Virtual Network Operator (FVNO) partnerships with domestic ISPs in order to extend the reach of its converged fixed and mobile services.

Partners in an extension to a submarine cable system connecting Asia, Africa and Europe are claiming it will deliver a major bandwidth boost for Africa as it enters a new phase.

Estonia’s scheduled spectrum auction has stalled following a legal challenge from a smaller local player.

Recent reports from the Liberian press indicate that local operator Lonestar Cell MTN has extended its mobile coverage in Liberia.

As we suggested earlier this week, Indian operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have told the country’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that they will not pay an estimated $12.4 billion between them in adjusted gross revenue (AGR)-related fees due today as they are awaiting next week’s Supreme Court hearing relating to a modification petition. 

Thai regulator NBTC expects the country’s upcoming spectrum auction to bring in THB64 billion ($2.1 billion) now that state-owned operators TOT and CAT are allowed to participate.

Telefonica has received a €10 billion offer on a majority stake in its business across eight Latin American markets.

Bharti Airtel has been granted permission by India’s Department of Telecommunications to receive up to 100% of its paid-up capital from overseas investors.

To meet the needs of new access technologies and growing transport requirements, as well as growing data demand in its region, Ooredoo Algeria is modernizing its infrastructure by boosting capacity throughout the network, with the help of SIAE Microelettronica.

Tokopedia, Indonesia’s largest e-commerce marketplace, is said to be involved in a major fundraising effort targeting up to $1.5bn.

An interesting new satellite-based take on the Internet of Things (IoT), with a strong focus on emerging markets, is attracting a healthy funding response.

Samsung is reportedly lining up an investment of $500 million for a smartphone display manufacturing plant in India.

CMC Networks and Neutrona Networks are expanding their SD-WAN and cloud network services for customers doing business in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Telenor has rekindled rumours of a possible merger with Axiata after reaching out to the Malaysian group’s largest shareholder to discuss the acquisition of a minority stake.

The fascinating – except perhaps to the central actors – saga of the massive payments due to the government from Indian operators has continued to add some twists after new legal representations offered hopes of a reprieve to some of India’s biggest service providers.

Better news for cable connections after recent disruption near Africa comes from Djibouti and Angola in the form of announcements of new trials and ongoing installation.

Submarine cable disruption has affected a number of areas in recent months. The last two weeks have seen many countries in Africa in particular affected by two regional undersea cable faults.