Apple has established a new unit in Vietnam to facilitate imports and distribution in the market, which is seeing a huge increase in demand for smartphones.

Cable & Wireless Communications is deploying a new platform from Tektronix across its Caribbean operations.

Digital security specialist Gemalto is delivering its Device Management platform to Bangladeshi number two Robi Axiata.

Indian mobile operators have hit out against the government’s proposals to charge a penalty for dropped calls.

Orange has announced that Helios Investment Partners is acquiring its entire 70% stake in Telkom Kenya.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha has issued a strongly-worded warning to the country’s state-owned operators over making further postponements to the already delayed 4G auctions.

Vietnamese market leader Viettel has partnered with mobile payments firm Fortumo to provide direct carrier billing to the operator’s subscribers.

Ericsson has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tunisia’s Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy to spur innovation in the country’s ICT sector.

Vodafone and Globacom Limited have announced a new, non-equity partnership agreement that covers Nigeria and the Republic of Benin.

Filipino number two Globe has pledged a minimum $200 million investment to upgrade the network of its recent acquisition, Bayantel.

Pakistan’s telecoms sector has undergone a sharp downturn over the past year, with revenue from mobile falling by 1.8% and a dramatic drop in direct foreign investment.

MTN Nigeria has been hit with a massive NGN 1.04 trillion ($5.2 billion) fine by the country’s telecoms regulator the NCC after it failed to register personal details for 5.1 million subscribers.

Bangladeshi service provider Bangla Trac has selected Cataleya to streamline traffic management and improve quality of service (QoS).

A new partnership between Ericsson and Sri Lankan connectivity provider Dialog Axiata will make Managed Enterprise Cloud services available in the island nation.

Private equity firm LetterOne has confirmed a deal with Brazilian mobile operator Oi in an alliance that the partners claim “enables the consolidation of the sector”.

Ericsson has strengthened its partnership with Indonesian operator Indosat with a new agreement to deploy 4G/LTE network in Greater Jakarta.

Mirantis has formed a joint venture with Chinese public cloud provider UCloud to accelerate adoption of OpenStack in China.

India’s number four Reliance Communications (RCom) is reportedly discussing a merger with two of the smaller operators, Aircel and Sistema (SSTL).

Money transfer service provider MoneyGram has launched a new service in partnership with Zimbabwean market leader Econet Wireless.

Alcatel-Lucent and Indian cable operator DEN Networks are launching ultra-broadband Internet connectivity using GPON fixed access, IP routing and aggregation technologies. 

Following regulatory approval, Millicom has completed the acquisition of an 85% stake in Zanzibar Telecom (Zantel).

Ooredoo Maldives and Facebook have partnered to connect more people  to the internet with the launch of Free Basics in the Maldives.

MTS is now offering mobile services in Ukraine under the Vodafone brand.

American Tower Corporation is acquiring a 51% controlling interest in Viom Networks.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is deploying a next-generation network (NGN) based on Ciena’s converged packet-optical platforms.

Millicom subsidiary Tigo Rwanda is launching 4G internet services accessible on all enabled smartphones.

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have long focused on protecting their Person-to-Person (P2P) communications revenue against the rising popularity of OTT messaging, either through partnership opportunities or developing their own competitive services.

Ooredoo and Brightstar Corp are partnering to bring end-to-end supply chain management across the operator’s footprint.