The role of ICT in business efficiency has been in the news in Vietnam recently with plans announced for a national database dedicated to construction activities and news of the launch of SAP Labs Vietnam.

Uzbektelecom (a.k.a. Uztelecom ) announced on Saturday that it will focus on deploying high-speed GPON and FTTx solutions across Uzbekistan starting this month as part of its telecoms infrastructure modernisation programme.

Telekom Malaysia’s enterprise and public sector business solutions arm TM One said on Friday it has formalised a five-year strategic collaboration with Agrobank to boost digital transformation of Malaysia’s agriculture and agro-based MSME sectors.

Chinese LEO satellite operator Geespace reportedly launched another batch of 11 LEO satellites into orbit on Saturday, bringing it past the halfway point of the first phase of its planned constellation.

Swedish operator Tele2 has announced plans to spin off its infrastructure assets into a dedicated tower company serving all three Baltic nations, under a 50/50 joint venture with tower specialist Global Communications Infrastructure (GCI).

Airtel Money Africa, the mobile money arm of pan-African operator Airtel Africa, has announced an extended partnership with Africa’s largest mobile money payment service provider (PSP), pawaPay, to enable seamless cross-border payments for licensed international money transfer operators (IMTOs) across seven key Airtel Africa markets.

AST SpaceMobile, which is building a space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by everyday smartphones and designed for both commercial and government applications, has announced an agreement to acquire global S-Band spectrum priority rights held under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The Armenian government has dismissed media claims that it authorised the sale of its 20% stake in Viva.

The widely anticipated launch of free roaming between Liberia and Sierra Leone seems to have begun, with a Liberia-Cote d’Ivoire deal now much closer.

UAE telecoms operator du says it has partnered with Microsoft, Nokia, Khalifa University’s 6G Research Center, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to launch what it says is the first AI model that serves critical telecom functions related to customer service in Arabic. 

Airtel Nigeria reportedly plans to build a carrier-neutral 38MW hyperscale data centre in Eko Atlantic City in Lagos to meet surging demand for cloud and AI services.

Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom have entered the active phase of deploying the long-planned Trans-Caspian Submarine Cable System that will cross the Caspian Sea to connect Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) partnered with Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs (Kominfo) to launch an AI-powered solution designed to protect citizens from the growing threat of digital fraud.

Hungarian telecom and technology firm 4iG Group has announced a HUF96 billion (US$282 million) investment into its B2B subsidiary, 4iG Space and Defence (4iG SD), to address a growing backlog of demand in the space and defence sectors.

Chinese LEO satellite operator Shanghai SpaceSail Technologies has reportedly tested its satellite broadband network in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan.

Philippine broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions said on Thursday it has landed the Philippine branch of the trans-pacific Bifrost Cable System at its cable landing station in Davao.

Vi Business, the enterprise arm of India’s Vodafone Idea, said on Wednesday it plans to deploy 12 million smart meters nationwide within the next three years in a bid to help transform India’s energy infrastructure.

The long-running merger between Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) and Telenor Pakistan is slowly progressing, as PTCL works to address regulatory concerns raised by the country’s competition authority.

OpenWay, a provider of digital payment software solutions, has expanded into Francophone Africa, saying it will empower banks and fintechs in the region with access to its payment technology and local service infrastructure.

Kalaam Telecom Group, a regional provider of digital infrastructure and ICT solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Silah Gulf, a customer experience and business process outsourcing provider, to jointly advance digital innovation and elevate service delivery standards across the region.

Orange announced on Tuesday it is expanding its collaboration with OpenAI to deploy two new advanced open-weight reasoning models in its data centre infrastructure to boost support for AI solutions development across its footprint, particularly in Africa.

Vodacom Eastern Cape said on Tuesday that it has completed targeted network upgrades in the Addo region and along the R335 route to fill mobile coverage gaps in a bid to combat truck hijackings.

Nepalese telco Ncell says it has become the first mobile operator in the country to expand its Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) international roaming service to include outbound travellers.

Malaysian clean energy solutions provider Gentari and cloud services giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) have signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for an 80MW wind power project in Tamil Nadu, India, a state on the south-eastern coast of the Indian peninsula.

Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), a research institution dedicated to enhancing agricultural productivity and rural development in Kenya, has partnered with SatSure Analytics India, a leading Earth Observation (EO) data refinery platform, to revolutionise agricultural productivity and resilience in Kenya through the use of advanced satellite data and analytics.

Indian state-owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), an oil and gas refinery in Assam in northeastern India, have signed what they call a landmark memorandum of understanding (MoU) relating to private network provision.

Vodacom has committed to investing ZAR620 million ($34.5 millon) in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province during its 2025–26 financial year, as it seeks to meet rising demand for connectivity.

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has launched a new mobile application called BEAC NG2020 to help the public and financial professionals authenticate BEAC banknotes from the Type 2020 series.

Czech telecoms firm České Radiokomunikace (CRA) says that it has obtained a building permit to construct a data centre on the outskirts of Prague, in the Zbraslav – Jíloviště area.

Operator MTN Uganda, its mobile finance business MTN Mobile Money (U) Limited, and the Uganda Hotel Owners’ Association (UHOA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), marking what they call the beginning of a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating digital transformation in Uganda’s hospitality sector.

Xtelify, a fully owned subsidiary of Indian operator Bharti Airtel that houses Airtel’s digital assets and capabilities, has announced the launch of what it describes as a sovereign, telco-grade cloud platform called Airtel Cloud, along with software platform deals in a number of territories.

Satellite communications firm EchoStar is moving ahead with plans to join the global direct-to-device (D2D) satellite race via a new LEO satellite constellation, and has awarded an initial US$1.3 billion contract to MDA Space to help build it.

PLDT and its wireless arm Smart Communications said on Monday they are testing fixed wireless access (FWA) technology from Radisys as a potential alternative for fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), particularly in areas in the Philippines where fibre is difficult to deploy.

Lao Telecom’s fintech unit Lao Mobile Money – which operates the MmoneyX mobile wallet – has become a strategic business partner with Visa in a deal aimed at boosting digital payments and financial inclusion in Laos.