It’s been a busy week for ICT in Zambia with the approval of two new bills for the digital economy, a new strategic plan announced by Zambia's ICT regulator and the awarding of a World Bank grant that reports suggest may be used for digital infrastructure.

Ongoing efforts to make smartphones affordable to more Africans while still ensuring a margin for sellers are continuing. In fact, this week has seen an alliance between Africa’s best-known home-grown electronic marketplace and a financing group to encourage more Kenyans to buy smartphones.

The Iraqi government has announced plans to construct the country’s first data centres in partnership with Nokia.

Vodafone Romania and Digi Romania have entered binding agreements to acquire separate parts of OTE’s subsidiary Telekom Romania Mobile Communications (TKRM), reducing the number of mobile operators in the country to three.

There’s been an interesting new development in the ongoing story of the repositioning of Nigerian operator 9mobile as T2 Mobile. It involves a spectrum deal with one of the country’s leading operators, MTN Nigeria.

The Tunisian government has reportedly announced plans for a staggering 138 projects to accelerate the digital modernisation of government administration over the period 2025–2026.

Princeton Digital Group (PDG), a leading Asia Pacific data centre provider, has announced a partnership with clean energy intelligence platform Flexidao and Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), one of India’s largest renewable energy companies, to pioneer the implementation of time-matched, carbon-free energy (CFE) consumption at its 150MW MU1 data centre in Mumbai.

The latest government attack on internet connectivity – and one of the most drastic so far – comes from Afghanistan, where ruling group the Taliban this week imposed an internet ban on the northern Balkh province, where a Wi-Fi shutdown was confirmed on Tuesday. The Taliban has said that the fibre optic internet ban will eventually be nationwide.

SoftBank Corp tested new innovation in High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) technology that can beam stable 5G connectivity from the sky to the ground, as the company advances in the nascent technology that can plug coverage gap in rural areas.

Indian telco Bharti Airtel says that its recent anti-fraud initiatives, to include an AI-powered spam detection solution, are paying off, with recent certified numbers showing a sizable drop in fraud losses and cybercrime incidents in general on its network.

Saudi Arabian telco Zain KSA is set to make a play in the insurtech space via its financial investment arm, Al Sayra Holding Company, which has formed a JV with global insurance specialist Prevensure to buy a stake in Saudi-based brokerage firm Green Shield Insurance Brokers Ltd (GSIB).

In what is proving to be a busy week for digital payments news in the Middle East and North Africa, a fintech and a major bank have recently announced a partnership to accelerate digital payments in Libya.

There’s been a flurry of digital payments news this week from Saudi Arabia involving a wide variety of major names in the market, notably Ant International, Google Pay and Thunes.

MTN Group is reportedly in discussions with US and European companies to develop the infrastructure needed to power AI services.

Cassava Technologies founder Strive Masiyiwa has announced plans to build five AI factories in Africa over the next 12 months.

ZTE announced on Tuesday that it has completed the first phase a network modernisation project for telecoms provider Mobiuz in the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan and the Khorezm region in Uzbekistan.

Connectivity solutions provider iBASIS announced on Tuesday it has signed a management service agreement with Indonesian telco XLSmart to manage local and overseas mobile authentication traffic coming into its network.

According to local news reports, operator Vodacom Tanzania is planning a number of technology modernisation programmes likely to involve an outlay of more than US$100 million.

SLA Digital, a global provider of direct carrier billing, has announced a partnership with VUZ, which describes itself as an immersive video platform revolutionising digital experiences. The collaboration, say the partners, will enable a seamless mobile payment option for VUZ customers across the Middle East and Asia.

Vodafone Oman and digital financial service platform developer Software Group said on Monday they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on developing digital financial services in Oman.

Ericsson announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement with Zain Bahrain to supply RAN gear to the operator’s network capacity and enhance coverage of its 4G and 5G networks.

UAE-based satellite player Space42 and global satellite operator Viasat announced on Monday they plan to form a joint venture called Equatys that will offer global direct-to-device (D2D) satellite services whilst also promising to evolve mobile satellite services (MSS) to a 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) environment.

Airtel Zambia and tower company IHS Zambia are making good time on their plan with the Zambian government to expand network reach in Zambia, with 52 new telecoms towers expected to be up and running by the end of this month.

Four of Peru’s mobile operators – Bitel, Claro, Entel and Integratel - have obtained spectrum for 5G deployment. A fifth, Americatel, which had prequalified for the bidding process, reportedly did not participate in the auction.

Ericsson has opened a new base of operations in Vietnam, underscoring the country’s growth potential as it undergoes rapid digital transformation.

Thailand is the latest country to announce plans to offer spectrum for private use by factories and businesses.

Malaysian 5G network provider U Mobile says it has signed on government-owned telecoms infrastructure provider Sacofa as a strategic fibre backhaul partner to accelerate the rollout of its 5G network in Sarawak.

African digital payments network Onafriq said it has formed a strategic partnership with Visa to launch Visa Pay, a cloud-native Payments-as-a-Service platform designed to expand digital financial access across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Vodafone Fiji and Digicel Fiji launched their respective 5G services on Monday, just days after officially receiving 5G spectrum licences from Fiji’s Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications.

SpaceX has launched Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN)’s long-delayed Nusantara Lima (N5) satellite into geostationary orbit to provide satellite broadband connectivity to Indonesia and surrounding areas.

Vodafone Idea is pushing back against a fresh demand from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which is seeking INR94.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) in outstanding adjusted gross revenue (AGR) charges from both Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel.

Tata Consultancy Services, a major name in IT services, consulting and business solutions headquartered in India, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian government group the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to accelerate the development of India’s sovereign cloud ecosystem.

Hughes do Brasil, a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, a major name in satellite and managed network services, and Soil Tecnologia, a startup in automation and monitoring solutions for central pivot systems, have announced a partnership that, the companies say, aims to bring connectivity and automation to agribusiness irrigation projects in every corner of Brazil.