State-owned Indian telco BSNL and local IT systems integrator Echelon Edge have reportedly landed a deal with Coal India Limited (CIL) to deploy a private 5G network at the Amlohri Open Cast Coal Mines facility in Madhya Pradesh.

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it will invest US $3 billion in India in cloud and AI infrastructure over the next two years, including new data centres and skills development, as part of a broad initiative to develop the country's AI ecosystem.

Indian operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) says it is preparing to launch its commercial 5G mobile services in what is described as a phased manner from March 2025.

Alleged pressure on Nigerian operators to raise mobile tariffs because of economic factors is continuing to inspire a lively debate between various factions over what sort of rise might be acceptable.

Digital Edge, a developer and operator of interconnection and hyperscale edge data centres across Asia and portfolio company of Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm, has announced it has raised over US$1.6 billion in new capital to fuel its next phase of growth.

Two months after Ghana saw the launch of its first 5G wholesale network, telecoms operators have yet to lease capacity from it to offer commercial 5G services, according to Minister of Communications and Digitalization Ursula Owusu.

Malaysian telco Maxis said on Monday it is offering a new “mobile identity” solution based on open network APIs designed to verify user IDs for mobile banking, e-commerce and other digital services without having to use SMS-based one-time passwords (OTPs).

Indian telcos Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have reportedly sold their stakes in Wi-Fi joint venture Firefly Networks to infrastructure provider iBus for INR90 million (US$1.04 million), after almost two years of looking for a buyer.

Philippines central bank, The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) says it has lifted its moratorium on new electronic money issuers from non-bank financial institutions (EMI-NBFI). The move is said to be aimed at enhancing digital payments in the country.

Global digital operator Veon Group says it has reaffirmed its confidence in the growth potential of Pakistan’s microfinance sector and Mobilink Bank, part of the Veon Group, by investing US$15 million in fresh capital to drive the bank’s strategic ambitions.

The military government in Myanmar, which seized power in a coup in February 2021, has enacted a new cybersecurity law which imposes wide-ranging controls on the flow of information. The measures were announced last Friday in state-run newspapers, though reports suggest they came into effect two days’ earlier.

LEO satellite operator Eutelsat OneWeb says last week’s service outage that lasted for 48 hours was down to a software glitch in its ground segment that didn’t take leap years into account.

Nokia announced on Friday it has completed the selloff of its subsea cable unit, Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), to the French government in order to focus on its core network infrastructure business.

UAE-based Space42 says it successfully launched its Thuraya 4 (T4) geostationary satellite, which it says will be key for launching new services across Africa, Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.

Pan-African operator MTN Group has announced the conclusion of the sale of its MTN Guinea-Conakry operation to the State of Guinea. This took place on 30 December 2024.

Two very different announcements regarding SIM registration have made headlines in two African countries in recent days: Togo is pursuing the policy, while Mauritius seems to be rejecting it.

Turkcell, globally a leading comprehensive telecom and digital services provider, has announced the successful completion of the world's first 2.4Tbps field trial on a live transmission network in collaboration with Huawei.

Operator MTN Uganda says it has secured UGX370 billion (about US$100 million) in committed debt financing from five local banks.

Before the end of 2025 Ukraine is expecting to be one of the first countries to have the Starlink direct-to-cell satellite service up and running, thereby enhancing the resilience of the country’s connectivity landscape, thanks to a deal between Starlink and local operator Kyivstar.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) to make unified payments interface (UPI) transactions via third-party mobile applications, a concept that may sound arcane on first glance, but one that could speed up the money transfer process in India.

While the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been widely reported as dismissing speculations that it plans an upward review of tariffs by January next year, it does seem as though one operator, satellite internet service Starlink, will have its planned tariff increase approved.

The telecommunications sector in the Republic of Congo is welcoming a new arrival with the announcement that Brazzaville-headquartered and state-owned operator Congo Telecom, known mainly for fixed services, has entered the mobile market.

While it’s been a holiday season in many parts of the world, it’s been a busy week for Safaricom Ethiopia – at least in terms of significant announcements involving M-Pesa services and coverage growth.

Recently, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority hosted the National Broadband Network Summit with the theme of "Gigabit For All" in Pakistan. The summit aims to bring together government and industry chain forces to promote Pakistan's digital economy by accelerating optical broadband deployment.

An internet law that gives the government power to regulate online content took effect in Vietnam last week. Decree 147, as the law is known, expands government control over access to information on the internet for reasons of ‘national security’ and ‘social order’.

Turkish telecoms giant Turk Telekom has announced a new 5G project focusing on smart agriculture in collaboration with Chinese telecommunications company ZTE.

Morocco’s Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Administrative Reform, last week announced that the country will soon launch a 5G internet service. The launch plans are described as part of preparations to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) football tournament and the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Indian startup Amantya Technologies has won funding under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme of the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) to develop a Made in India 5G standalone (SA) core for public and enterprise deployments.

Telecom Egypt, the country's main telecom services operator, has signed a commercial agreement with China Mobile International (CMI), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Mobile, to expand digital services.

Operator Movistar Colombia has announced the launch of its shared network with former rival operator Tigo. This comes after a fairly lengthy wait since we reported the companies’ signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to pursue a network sharing arrangement via a jointly owned infrastructure company in mid-2023.

Technology giant Ericsson and Bahrain-headquartered technology group Beyon have renewed their collaboration to expand their joint sustainability initiatives and circular economy practices for building energy-efficient networks in Bahrain.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a consortium of six international financial institutions have committed over US$900 million in financing to global data centre operator Yondr Group’s hyperscale data centre campus in Johor Bahru, a city on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.

Telin, a provider of premium international carrier voice, data services, and business solutions, and subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia, and Citra Connect, an Indonesian provider of connectivity services and digital solutions, have officially held a ceremony for a new cable landing station (CLS) at Nongsa Digital Park, Batam, the largest city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands.

There's been a major boost for troubled Chilean operator WOM after it won court approval to exit bankruptcy proceedings, having agreed to a takeover and restructuring bid from a group of creditors. This news comes eight months after WOM filed for Chapter 11, a US bankruptcy process that allows a debtor to reorganise its business or personal assets and debts.