Malaysian telco U Mobile said on Saturday it has scored separate deals with Chinese telecoms vendors Huawei and ZTE to explore and develop 5G use cases in Malaysia focused on verticals and the agriculture sector.

Nokia revealed on Saturday details of last week’s billion-dollar network contract win with Indian telco Vodafone Idea to modernise and expand its 4G network – to include 5G upgrades – over the next three years.

Ericsson announced on Friday announced that it has completed a major tech stack upgrade for Pakistan’s Telenor Microfinance Bank (TMB), giving its mobile wallet easypaisa a cloud-native platform on which to scale up its services.

Chinese LEO satellite operator Geespace and Malaysian telecoms service provider Altel Communications have agreed to establish an R&D centre to develop use cases for direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communications technology.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has approved a $400 million loan for Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL), marking a significant step toward its acquisition of Telenor Group’s operations in Pakistan.

South African telco Vodacom said on Thursday its enterprise unit is working with local governments to implement smart city solutions for use cases such as utilities management, healthcare, education and security.

SpaceX has reportedly said it plans to invest US$1.5 billion in Vietnam in the near future as an apparent sweetener to convince the government to allow the company to launch its LEO satellite broadband service Starlink in the country.

In what may seem an unusual form of diversification, Pakistan’s Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL) has said it plans to invest in the establishment of data centres, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and related technology ventures.

KaiOS,  whose mobile operating system brings the internet to affordable devices, has announced a partnership with payment giant Mastercard to integrate a range of digital payments solutions for developing markets, beginning with Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

Smartphone financing company M-KOPA hailed reaching the milestone of providing over five million customers with loans in Africa totalling US$1.5 billion.

ASN announced on Wednesday it is collaborating with seismic instrumentation company Nanometrics and environmental monitoring firm RBR to integrate climate-change monitoring tech into subsea cables, starting with a new cable project underway in the Pacific Islands.

Indian telco Bharti Airtel said on Wednesday it has launched what it claims is India’s first network-based, AI-powered spam detection solution to alert customers of suspected spam calls and text messages.

Artificial intelligence (AI) underpins two recent announcements in the Latin American region – one from technology giant Microsoft and the other from Wi-Fi optimisation specialist Galgus.

Kenyan service provider Safaricom has been in the news this week for an initiative involving healthcare – and also for a sustainability-linked loan.

At the United Nations Summit of the Future 2024 in New York  on 21 September, ZTE Vice President Summer Chen delivered a keynote speech “A Digital Future for All” during ITU’s SDG DIGITAL on how ZTE’s solutions are able to provide connectivity in some of the world’s least developed countries as well as some of its most remote regions.

Data centre operator Raxio Group says it has inaugurated Raxio Côte d’Ivoire (CIV1), described as a state-of-the-art data centre, in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Ethiopia’s state-owned service provider Ethio Telecom has announced that it is rolling out what it calls its Copper Switch-Off Strategic Initiative; its aim is to migrate 100,000 of the company’s copper-based customers to high-speed fibre optic connections during the current Ethiopian fiscal year.

Tunisia’s three biggest mobile operators – Tunisie Telecom, Orange Tunisie and Ooredoo Tunisia – reportedly submitted their applications for 5G licences on Monday, with approval expected in the next three weeks.

Qatar-based Ooredoo Group announced on Tuesday it has signed a QAR 2 billion (US$549.4 million) financing deal to help fund its plan to accelerate its data centre business and establish itself as an AI infrastructure heavyweight in the MENA region.

Indonesian telco XL Axiata says it has launched a new prepaid SIM card registration process that uses facial recognition technology as a biometric ID verification measure, following a successful trial earlier this month.

The market for Starlink’s LEO satellite services in Fiji is getting more competitive as Digicel Fiji began offering Starlink services for its enterprise customers on Tuesday, just two months after rival telco Telecom Fiji did likewise.

Malaysia-based subsea cable solutions company OMS Group said on Monday it has allocated US$300 million for strategic investments in its global cable systems and terrestrial infrastructure in the ASEAN region.

A contactless boarding pass system is set to reduce waiting times and create a better travel experience for passengers at India’s airports, according to air transport technology giant SITA.

Continuing a busy week for Nokia in terms of news headlines, operator Zain Iraq has announced a strategic partnership with the technology giant to upgrade its network in the south of Iraq.

Naver Corp, the operator of South Korea’s leading internet portal, says it has plans to establish a Middle Eastern unit in Saudi Arabia within this year as part of efforts to expand its global business.

Service provider Telia Lithuania and Ribbon Communications, a global provider of real-time communications technology and IP optical networking solutions, have come together to upgrade communications for Lithuania’s rail network.

Operator Vodacom South Africa has built an enablement platform for mobile virtual network operators and signed up its first MVNO client, declaring the platform open for business.

Digicel Papua New Guinea hailed efforts in expanding its mobile network to all 21 provinces of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, noting 4G coverage now stands at 80% in the location where in the past, it was rumoured to be exiting.

Nokia signed a deal to deploy locally manufactured 5G equipment across Vietnam for state-owned operator Viettel Group.

Vietnamese telco Viettel reportedly plans to give away 4G feature phones to 700,000 of its 2G-only subscribers to migrate them to 4G as the government’s delayed shutdown of 2G draws near.

Nokia announced on Monday that Thai wholesale network provider International Gateway Company (IGC) has deployed its next-gen optical transport solution to modernize its existing DWDM network in Thailand.