State-owned Uzbektelecom JSC (a.k.a. Uztelecom) and Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) said on Thursday they will collaborate to develop network security services for Uzbekistan as well as the broader Central Asian market, starting with zero-trust access.

Operators Brisanet, Ligga/Sercomtel and TIM have been declared the winners of Brazil's first reverse mobile auction, held by the Ministry of Communications, the regulator Anatel and Seja Digital, the group involved in effecting the transition to digital TV broadcasting in Brazil, which, in turn, has opened up 4G spectrum.

Ukraine’s telecoms industry is about to receive a boost thanks to The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, with support from the European Commission (EC) and the government of France.

Dito Telecommunity celebrated reaching 13 million subscribers as of this month (October), and CEO Eric Alberto claimed the challenger operator will achieve profitability within a few years.

The 10% sell-off of Ethio Telecom is finally going ahead. In fact Reuters reports that Ethio Telecom will become the first company to list on Ethiopia’s new stock market next week when the government sells a 10% stake in the company.

Nokia has partnered with RACSA (Radiográfica Costarricense SA) to deploy the first 5G standalone (SA) network in Costa Rica.

The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) is reportedly demanding a full review of Starlink’s operations in the country after the LEO satellite operator jacked up its prices without regulatory approval.

Optical networking vendor Infinera says it has won a contract with Philippine broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions to supply submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) for Converge’s landing station for the Bifrost Cable System.

Technology innovation giant Nokia and Furukawa Electric LatAm, a communications infrastructure solutions manufacturer, have announced plans to expanded their partnership, which was established in 2022, to immediately bring high-performance solutions in data centre automation to Brazil.

The South African government has revealed plans to close the connectivity coverage gap in rural areas, emphasising this as a key initiative to empower poorer communities and stimulate economic growth.

Vietnam has this week announced that it aims to deploy two undersea internet cables by the end of next year. It has also said that 5G services will be deployed across the country by that time.

As AI technologies become all-pervasive, they are starting to impact service development and digital intelligence transformation across a range of industry sectors, in turn imposing ever greater demands on existing enterprise and carrier network infrastructures.

Indian telco Bharti Airtel and Nokia announced on Tuesday they will collaborate on an initiative to introduce energy-efficient solutions and practices across Airtel’s 4G/5G RANs using AI and machine learning.

Nigerian fintech startup Okra launched a new cloud infrastructure service on Tuesday, making it the latest of several startups in the country that aim to provide a local alternative to cloud giants like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

Cisco announced several deals on Tuesday it says will accelerate AI innovation in Malaysia, including a collaboration agreement with Telekom Malaysia (TM) to help government digital agency Jabatan Digital Negara (JDN) upgrade its digital infrastructure.

iBASIS, a provider of communications solutions for operators and digital players worldwide, and TelEm Group, one of the leading mobile networks in the Caribbean island of Saint Maarten, have announced a five-year exclusive partnership to manage TelEm’s international voice services in key markets.

The government of the Indian state of Maharashtra has approved the establishment of what are called Green Integrated Data Centre Parks, aiming for an investment of around US$20 billion.

MTC Namibia launched its mobile financial service, MTC Maris, as the Namibian government hailed the operator for “stepping ahead” of its rivals, while urging them to follow suit in order to connect the fifth of the population that remains unbanked.

Indonesian operator Telkomsel says it is trialing facial recognition to facilitate its processes for prepaid card registration and card replacement, making it the second telco in the country to embrace the biometric technology.

Telkom Indonesia's satellite subsidiary Telkomsat said on Monday it is partnering with vertical services firm Bhinneka Nusantara Mandiri (BNM) to use capacity from the new Merah Putih 2 satellite to accelerate digital transformation in the maritime sector.

All four of Egypt’s mobile operators are officially clear to offer 5G services after the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) awarded 5G licences to Vodafone Egypt, Orange Egypt, and e& Egypt on Monday.

Indian communications service provider Vodafone Idea (Vi) has strengthened its longstanding network partnership with Ericsson through the award of major 4G and 5G contracts which, Ericsson says, will see the tech giant extend its network share.

Data-driven strategies for customer growth and retention are in the news again – this time thanks to a division of Zain Group, a technology and digital communications provider operating in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa.

Burundi and Zambia are to be connected via an underwater fibre optic cable, following an agreement at the second Digital Government Africa Summit, which took place from 2-4 October 2024 in Zambia’s capital Lusaka.

We’ve written a lot this year about the effect of the devaluation of naira on telecoms services in Nigeria. But another African country where service providers have been hit by the devaluation of its currency is Ethiopia, whose state-owned telecom provider, Ethio Telecom, has now announced tariff increases across many of its services.

The battle for India’s end users is not just about coverage on streets and in homes. Continuing the trend of bringing wireless communications to public rail transport, two of the country’s big three operators have just announced new metro coverage achievements in two major cities.

Mobile operator Orange Burkina Faso is reportedly unable to access almost 15% of its telecom sites due to the security situation in those areas as fighting between the military government and Islamist armed groups continues.

Ericsson said on Friday that Bangladesh telco Grameenphone has completed deployment of its mediation solution that leverages big data analytics to provide better and more useful insights into how Grameenphone’s network is being used.

Globe Telecom says it has successfully conducted a trial of Lynk Global’s direct-to-device (D2D) satellite service in Zambales as of a series of planned pilots to test the service’s viability in the Philippines.

CelcomDigi has enhanced its fibre broadband services to strengthen its position against competitors as demand for high-speed internet continues to grow in Malaysia.

In July, we reported that Thai billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi was planning to merge two companies that he controls - Intouch Holdings, which holds a majority 40.4% stake in AIS, and power firm Gulf Energy Development. Now, shareholders in the firms have reportedly approved the proposal.

Apple will begin selling iPhones manufactured in India and has revealed plans to open four new retail locations in the country.