Orange has received Electronic Money Establishment (EME) licences in four African markets - Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali and Senegal.

Telia has signed an agreement to sell its stake in Tajikistani operator Tcell to AKFED (the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development).

Nokia and Orange Polska have successfully completed a pilot project to prepare for the mass migration of Orange's legacy public switched telephone network (PSTN) services to an all-IP network ready to support current and future broadband needs.

Nokia is deploying China's first commercial Carrier WAN-SDN project in partnership with Jiangsu Telecom, a regional branch of China Telecom.

Indian newcomer Reliance Jio has revealed its 4G data pricing along with a launch offer of free domestic voice calls.

Epsilon subsidiary Cataleya has been selected by Bangladeshi operator Global Voice Telecom Ltd (gvtele) to deploy its next-generation session border controller (SBC) Orchid One.

Ericsson and Cisco have announced an agreement to supply and install IP networks for C&W Communications, which operates the retail brand Flow, in three Caribbean markets.

Zain Iraq and Ericsson have signed a three-year extension of their network and IT operation and optimisation managed services agreement.

Wipro and Stibo Systems have announced a partnership that will see the companies collaborate to offer Master Data Management (MDM) solutions.

Kenyan operator Safaricom has implemented Flash Networks’ Harmony 7.5 to improve network quality by providing their subscribers with faster mobile browsing.

Cambodian mobile operator Cellcard and mobile payments company Fortumo have announced the launch of their direct carrier billing partnership.

Sigfox is deploying its IoT network in Colombia, in partnership with WND and managed by Phaxsi Solutions.

South African regulator ICASA has come under fire from Telkom SA’s CEO Sipho Maseko for “mak[ing] rules on the run”.

Mobile operator Elisa Estonia has launched direct carrier billing for the Google Play app store with Fortumo.

Reliance Communications (RCOM) and its subsidiary Global Cloud Xchange (GCX) have launched India’s first “Make in India” Content Delivery Network (CDN).

MTN will funnel ZAR9.9 billion ($730 million) into a black empowerment investment scheme in preparation for next year’s spectrum auctions, which require bidders to have a minimum black shareholding of 30%.

Telenor is still investigating options for selling its $2.4 billion stake in VimpelCom after announcing its intention to divest in October last year.

Shine Technologies and Econet Wireless have announced a deal to bring network-level ad blocking to 40 million subscribers across Africa.

PTCL will deploy 789km of fibre for Pakistani operator Zong, enabling delivery of quality telecommunication services across the market.

ZTE has formed a strategic cooperation agreement on joint 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) innovation with China Unicom.

The government of India has revealed it expects to raise around INR2.75 trillion ($41 billion) in the imminent large-scale spectrum auction – around half of the INR5.6 trillion reserve price.

Canalys’ latest market forecast shows worldwide smartphone shipments will reach just over 1.4 billion units in 2016.

Iraqi mobile payments company Iraq Wallet has expanded its ZainCash service by introducing an online payment solution, ‘Pay with ZainCash’.

Renewable energy firm Energy Vision has selected Flexenclosure for a significant eSite hybrid power system rollout in Gabon.

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service has issued Google with a RUB438 million ($6.8 million) fine.