Indian telco Bharti Airtel announced on Monday it has upgraded its AI-powered spam detection tool to include alerts for spam calls and text messages originating from international numbers as well as domestic ones. 

Malaysian telco U Mobile announced on Monday it has sold its merchant acquiring business GoBiz to NTT Data Cardpay in order to better focus on developing 5G-powered digital services for enterprises, particularly SMEs.

Malaysia’s Railway Assets Corp (RAC) announced on Friday it has contracted telco YTL Communications to build out fibre optic infrastructure along 1,600 km of railway track, putting an end to the railway fibre monopoly held by Telekom Malaysia’s Fiberail.

Canalys has predicted that Egypt’s smartphone market could stabilise following the enforcement of new regulations aimed at curbing its long-standing grey market, which led to a sharp drop in shipments at the start of the year.

Malaysia’s Altel Group and Chinese LEO satellite firm Zhejiang Geespace Technology reportedly formed a joint venture on Friday to create regional industrial communications solitions leveraging satellite and 4G. 

XLSmart – the Indonesian operator created by the merger of XL Axiata, Smartfren Telecom and Smart Telecom – has officially kicked off operations under its new corporate identity as it looks to compete as a stronger, customer-focused third player in the telco space.

Yet another financial innovation using mobile telecommunications has been introduced in Africa. This time, it's an investment product from Uganda’s MTN Mobile Money (MTN MoMo), a mobile financial service provider.

Peru has opened a call for the allocation of the 3.5GHz frequency band for public telecommunications services using 5G or higher technology. More precisely, the call comprises frequencies in the 3300-3800MHz band.

LEO satellite operator Starlink appears to have had a pretty good week or two in Africa, with licence awards in Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau and Somalia making headlines. But it isn’t quite as simple as that.

State-owned Indian operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has reportedly defaulted on loan repayments of over INR83 billion about (US$971.5 million) to multiple banks.

Sam George, Ghana's Minister Of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, is widely reported to have set what is described as a firm deadline of June 2025 for the Next Generation Infrastructure Company (NGIC) to launch 5G services in the West African country. But will it be met?

Unitel has expanded its mobile network in the municipality of Cachingues to enhance voice and data services delivered over its 3G and 4G infrastructure.

The global smartphone market recorded just 1% growth year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, with persistent macroeconomic pressures continuing to weigh on consumer demand, according to analyst firm Canalys.

Vietnamese state telco MobiFone has reportedly applied to prime minister Phạm Minh Chính for approval to enter the country’s national defence and security sector as part of its future growth strategy.

Vietnamese mobile operators Mobifone, Viettel and VNPT have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a platform under the GSMA Open Gateway initiative to combat online fraud using open CAMARA APIs.

Pan-African operator Orange says it has launched the first-ever 'My Customer, My Boss' initiative simultaneously in its 17 subsidiaries in Middle East and Africa.

Payment and connectivity services company IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) and National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) have announced a strategic partnership to boost the digital payment landscape in Vietnam.

Private 5G networks may not be storming the market yet, but there is undoubtedly steady growth. In fact this week has seen the news that Bahrain operator Batelco by Beyon and tech giant Nokia have joined forces to deploy Bahrain’s first 5G private network.

Apple airlifted US$2 billion worth of iPhones from India to the United States last month, in a strategic move to shield against the impact of rising US import tariffs.

Mobile data consumption and the adoption of 5G services will be key drivers of mobile service revenue growth in Malaysia, according to analyst firm GlobalData.

MTN Uganda and PostBank Uganda have reportedly completed a six-month proof of concept (POC) of the operator’s  secure access service edge (SASE) business solution to power the bank’s digital transformation. 

The Moroccan government has signed separate MoUs with Nokia and Ericsson to accelerate its Digital Morocco 2030 plan, with both vendors agreeing to contribute to digital talent development among other things.

Viettel Networks, a subsidiary of military-owned telco Viettel, announced on Wednesday that the Vietnam-bound link of the Asia Direct Cable (ADC) is now live, more than doubling the country’s international bandwidth.

Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SecDojo, a cybersecurity training platform, to strengthen the country’s resilience against cyberthreats through what are described as targeted capacity-building initiatives.

Cloud services giant Amazon Web Services (AWS), has announced a collaboration with Manara, a social impact startup dedicated to unlocking the untapped potential of top technology talent in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), including women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Another initiative relevant to MEA mobile finance has been launched. This time global digital payments and commerce platform PayPal has announced a strategic partnership with TerraPay, a global money movement company, to enable real-time fund transfers for PayPal customers across the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Operator e& UAE has announced the launch of its autonomous drone-based cell tower inspection, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), calling it a major leap in telecom infrastructure management and operational safety.

Huawei showcased its Xinghe Intelligent Unified SASE Solution, an AI-powered cybersecurity system designed to tackle the rising threat of AI-driven attacks.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has reportedly directed all telcos in the country to proactively resolve internet access issues on a monthly, state-by-state basis rather than wait for customers to complain before taking action.

Malaysia’s second 5G operator U Mobile said on Tuesday it has selected Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE as key tech partners in rolling out its next-gen 5G network with the ambitious goal of achieving 80% coverage within the first year of deployment.

Globe Telecom has moved forward with its acquisition of a 50% stake in AB Capital Securities Inc (ABCSI), aiming to strengthen the stock brokerage capabilities of its fintech unit, Mynt, which operates the widely used GCash mobile wallet.

PLDT has credited its collaborative strategy for halving material losses caused by vandalism between 2022 and 2024.

United Bank for Africa (UBA), a leading pan-African financial services institution with a global footprint, says it has upgraded its point of sale (POS) terminals and revamped its UBA MONI banking app with the aim of accelerating digital payments.