NFC retail payment and other POS services are set to gain traction in emerging markets following the announcement of a partnership between contactless network provider accells and Fundamo, the specialist mobile financial services provider...

One of Latin America’s leading electronic top-up service platforms, Movilway, is now expanding into Mexico to offer electronic top-up for prepaid users...

Talia is expanding its iDirect Evolution (DVB-S2) services to South America, served through Telesat Telstar 12, KU band. The same network provides services for the Middle East, Europe, Russia, North America, West, Central and East Africa...

Remote communities across Indonesia will soon enjoy the benefits of environmentall friendly mobile connectivity...

One of Ghana’s leading VAS providers is set to offer mobile voice content services to mobile operators in the West African country. Mobile Content.Com Ltd has partnered with VAS developer Kirusa for this new joint initiative...

Customers in Argentina and Brazil will soon be able to make domestic and international online payments, following the announcement that global eMoney network Ukash is expanding its footprint into these countries...

Following on from the arrest of former telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja, the investigation into India’s 2G licensing scandal by the country’s Central Bureau of Investigation has resulted in several other arrests...

One of India’s largest operators is preparing its new Online Application Store for launch. Idea Cellular, the third-largest mobile operator in terms of revenue, is set to provide its 84 million-plus subscribers with an application store based on Ericsson’s eStore solution...

A new agreement for high powered Ku-band transponder capacity on the NSS-6 satellite has been signed by Pakistan’s leading satellite service provider Supernet and SES World Skies, a division of SES S.A...

The biggest story of this year’s Mobile World Congress may have broken before the show has even started, with the announcement that Nokia and Microsoft have entered into a “broad strategic partnership” which will see Nokia adopt Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone operating system...

Will 2011 be the year where SMBs in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) take a serious approach towards the adoption of cloud-based solutions and remote managed IT services (RMITS)? A new series of studies of the region say yes, showing the top 10 SMB ICT spending to be either cloud-based or RMITs-related. Leading the way is video conferencing, SaaS productivity, and remote managed PC services...

Millions of Africans can access Facebook updates, news and chat using the first two-way SMS Facebook Chat service via any basic mobile phone. The new service, launched by ForgetMeNot Africa, is revolutionising communications on the continent by unifying two-way email, online chat and social networking without the need for an Internet connection...

A potential contract for the rollout of an Indian startup’s proposed TD-LTE network could end up being the largest network equipment deal that the country has seen thus far...

Malaysia’s largest 3G operator has deployed a new SMS service aimed at providing a secure messaging solution to its wireless subscribers and enterprise customers...

Major developments in the Indian 2G licensing scandal are underway, with the country’s Central Bureau of Investigation naming two of the operators that benefitted from underpriced spectrum permits...

The Indian joint venture Vodafone Essar has delayed its planned sale of 7000 towers spanning seven of India’s telecoms circles until the dispute between the two partners is resolved...

Two of the largest mobile operators in the Egypt have criticised the drastic security measures enforced by the country’s ailing government in the face of ongoing unrest...

Adding to the objections of European telecoms vendors, a European Commission document has criticised the state financial support received by Chinese vendors ZTE and Huawei...

The biggest mobile operator in Russia may be pursuing a merger as a means of furthering its ambition to become a major global telecoms group...

India’s telecommunications authorities could still enforce a ban on RIM’s BlackBerry device, as RIM has missed the most recent deadline for granting the government monitoring access to its enterprise services...

Kuwait is one of the wealthier members of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), ranking third in GDP per capita behind Qatar and the UAE, but a closer look at its telecoms sector reveals a major lack of competition in its fixed-line market...

Several private-owned operators in Thailand have received a large bill from none other than TOT, the country’s state-owned operator...

India’s telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal has outlined plans to disassociate spectrum from specific licences, instead letting mobile operators purchase spectrum via a “market-driven mechanism” – with auctions being a possibility...

A large-scale, citywide network of Wi-Fi hotspots is being deployed by Chongqing Telecom, a unit of China Telecom, in the southwestern Chinese city...

Subscribers of Indosat, one of Indonesia’s largest telcos, will soon be able to enjoy new and innovative mobile applications following the launch of the operator’s Application Incubator Program, which will encourage and support the developer community to build differentiated mobile applications...

Telenor’s opposition to VimpelCom’s proposed acquisition of Wind Telecom (formerly Weather Investments) shows no sign of letting up, with the Norwegian firm initiating a court case to protect the “pre-emptive rights” that it enjoys as a key VimpelCom shareholder...

Two of the major Internet service providers in China will soon offer social network integration of Nokia’s Ovi Maps service, meaning that customers will be able to update their status to let their contacts know their whereabouts...

Bhutan could be deemed one of the world’s more insular countries, and the development of its telecommunications sector has been far from typical...

The UAE’s leading national university, the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), is deploying a new state-of-the-art campus network...

The rapid growth of smartphones on Guam is prompting GTA TeleGuam to expand its 3G wireless network capacity for handling the rising data and voice communications traffic...

The Middle East’s first Cloud telecom operator, GO Telecom, has announced a partnership with CommuniGate Systems to offer a new telecommunications service, Go Terhal, in Saudi Arabia...

In spite of the worldwide economic downturn (during which India’s economy showed strong resistance compared to its western counterparts), the overall SMB channel partner universe in India has shown organic growth over the last two years...

The South African operator Cell C has announced the launch of a new service named “MyTools”, a cloud telephony service built on global technology firm fonYou’s OMT-9000 platform...

Mobile payments could soon be greatly facilitated across Latin America following the announcement of a new joint venture between MasterCard and Telefonica...