Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) opened its Digital Intelligence Operations Center (DIOC), a move to leverage AI to enhance its network.  

MTN Nigeria says it has taken full ownership of Mobile Money Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) after buying the 7.17% share owned by Acxani Capital for around NGN6.95 billion (US$4.36 million).

Global data centre company Vantage Data Centres officially broke ground on its second Malaysian data centre in Cyberjaya on Tuesday, whilst also signing a deal with electricity company TNB to power it.

Paymentology, a card issuing and processing platform, has announced a partnership with Salaam Bank’s Waafi in Somalia.

Indonesia's state-owned service provider Telkom Indonesia, the country’s largest telecommunication group, is widely reported to have appointed leading global investment banking, securities, and asset and wealth management firm Goldman Sachs and local investment bank Mandiri Sekuritas to help it find a strategic investor for its data centre business NeutraDC.

A reminder that there has been other telecoms news coming out of Bangladesh recently apart from the recent internet disruption comes from Grameenphone, Bangladesh’s largest telecommunications service provider with more than 85 million subscribers, which has partnered with Mobileum, a provider of analytics and network solutions.

This week has seen yet another airline announce an alliance with a telecoms company with the news that Kenya Airways has signed a strategic partnership with Kenyan operator Safaricom.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) called for telecoms operators to simplify their tariff plans, bundles and promotional activities in a bid to streamline consumer experience and grow the sector.

Hungarian operator group 4iG’s chairman met with North Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minster to explore the possibility of launching its operations in the country.

Indonesian telco Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison has launched an AI-powered digital solution for enterprises in the retail sector that it says can help them optimize business revenues, boost customer satisfaction and improve operational efficiency in their stores.

Incumbent Maldives telco Dhiraagu said it has inaugurated the official landing of the SEA-ME-WE 6 subsea cable in the Maldives, although the cable is still almost two years away from activation.

BnB, a fintech company that says it is committed to revolutionising financial services in Africa, has launched an initiative that seeks to expand international money transfer services in collaboration with operator Lonestar Cell MTN’s MoMo (a mobile money service).

India’s telecom regulator TRAI has announced plans to tighten up on quality of service (QoS) requirements relating to 4G and 5G networks, in a bid, it is reported, to reduce instances of call drops and network downtime problems.

UPDATE: Bangladesh's Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman has confirmed that he has assumed power following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has now fled the country. At the time of writing, data from NetBlocks indicates that internet connectivity has been restored and remains available in Bangladesh.

Telekom Indonesia’s telecoms infrastructure subsidiary Mitratel says it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with high altitude platform station (HAPS) firm AALTO to look into providing commercial HAPS solutions in Indonesia.

Thai telco Advanced Info Service (AIS) says it will deploy Oracle Alloy in its data centres to launch what it claims will be Thailand’s first locally owned and operated hyperscale cloud service.

Globe Telecoms’ fintech unit Mynt (Globe Fintech Innovations) gained fresh investments from Ayala Corp and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), a move that will boost the valuation of Mynt to US$5 billion, claimed Globe.

MTN Group announced multiple changes to its executive with its Congo-Brazzaville unit gaining a new Chief Executive.  

Liberty Latin America announced on Thursday that Liberty Costa Rica will merge with Millicom International Cellular’s Tigo Costa Rica via an all-stock deal focused on boosting investment in fibre networks in the country.

Singapore-based data centre provider ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) says it has signed a deal to use Malaysian telco U Mobile’s 5G connectivity to help its new data centres in Malaysia better support edge applications.

Indian authorities have hit leading IT outsourcer Infosys with a US$3.9 billion tax demand – and some news reports suggest the pursuit of alleged unpaid taxes will soon target other big names.

India’s news media outlets are reporting that there may be government interest in reallocating some broadcasting spectrum for use in 5G networks.

The Indian smartphone market declined by 2% YoY in the second quarter of 2024, but 5G smartphones saw their highest market share growth so far.

Recent African cable news includes a milestone for Namibia with the inauguration of its Equiano cable station and plans for a 2Africa cable landing in Pakistan.

Malaysian telco CelcomDigi officially submitted its proposal to build Malaysia’s second 5G network on Wednesday, while rival telco U Mobile has signed more MoUs – including a new financing deal – geared towards making its own case to be the new 5G operator.

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has reportedly changed its strategy for allocating two unsold satellite orbital slots after last week’s auction failed to attract any bids.

Millicom International Cellular says it has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire a 67.50% stake in Colombia Telecomunicaciones (aka Coltel or Telefonica Colombia) from owner Telefonica Hispanoamerica, for approximately US$400 million.

Operator du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), in collaboration with Nokia and MediaTek, the world’s fifth largest global fabless semiconductor company, have announced what they describe as a major milestone in the integration and enhancement of 5G technologies in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

ArtificiaI intelligence (AI)-ready data centres are in the news this week, with Malaysia and Indonesia playing host to new or planned facilities.