European fibre backbone and subsea infrastructure provider EXA Infrastructure says it has signed a deal with Turkey’s SOCAR Fiber to develop a terrestrial fibre optic route across Turkey that it says will add diversity to the cluster of subsea cables in the Red Sea corridor.

Latin American telecoms service provider Millicom has announced, through its Tigo Business division, what it calls a new phase in its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to jointly continue developing the adoption of cloud services.

Some very positive connectivity news comes from the Brazil-Colombia border where it is being reported that a fibre optics cable crossing Brazil's Amazonas state is finally ready to connect the Colombian city of Leticia two years after the project to link the two countries via fibre in the shared Amazon border area kicked off.

Nokia and telecom infrastructure organization Solis Tower Telecom do Brasil have partnered to provide connectivity to agribusinesses in rural parts of Brazil.

UAE-based Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) says it has contracted SpaceX as the launch provider for its upcoming new geostationary satellites, Al Yah 4 (AY4) and Al Yah 5 (AY5).

Guinea’s Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy (MPTEN) says it has signed an agreement with Mali to interconnect the two countries’ fibre optic networks, partly in response to recent subsea cable outages affecting the continent.

The North Korean government has reportedly made plans to strengthen security of its mobile network by the end of this year by ditching Chinese telecoms equipment – just months after deploying it.

Indian full-stack space engineering solutions provider Dhruva Space and France-based satellite operator and global IoT connectivity provider Kinéis say they plan to introduce Kinéis IoT connectivity in India, and to launch a Kinéis IoT payload on the Dhruva Space P-30 satellite.

Operator MTN Nigeria is widely reported in the African press to be building a 1,500-rack Tier IV data centre in Lagos, which would make it West Africa’s largest data centre.

A previously little-known company with the interesting name of Natural Environment Solutions (NES) has announced that it has launched a 5 MW data centre in Pune, India, marking its entry into the country's fast-booming data centre industry.

Nokia and Philippines-based operator PLDT signed a memorandum of understanding to provide 5G services to the latter’s enterprise customers.

Somalia-based operator Hormuud Telecom signed up to the GSMA’s Humanitarian Connectivity Charter pledging to provide connectivity in times of urgency and  enhancing collaboration with humanitarian organisations.

Tunisia’s Ministry of Communication Technologies reportedly launched a call for tenders for 5G operating licences on Sunday, with the aim of launching commercial 5G services in some form as early as November this year.

Telekom Malaysia (TM) announced on Monday that it has clinched a RM1.25 billion (US$265 million) deal with the Malaysian government to develop and operate a new AI-powered next-generation 999 emergency response system.

Saudi Arabian telco STC Group announced on Monday that it has deployed an AI-powered self-organizing network (SON) solution from Nokia in its network to automate network optimization.

Smart Africa, an alliance of African countries, international organisations, and global private sector players tasked with advancing Africa’s digital agenda, last week signed a potentially significant agreement with KaiOS Technologies, whose mobile platform is said to make the internet accessible to all.

African money transfer company Dahabshiil and Safaricom Ethiopia's M-Pesa have signed a partnership that will enable the Ethiopian diaspora to send money directly to M-Pesa mobile wallets.

India’s big three private operators, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, have put up their tariffs. This is the first time in three years they have done so. It was, however, widely expected.

Amazon has again delayed the launch of its first production satellites for Project Kuiper, the company’s rival to the Starlink satellite internet constellation.

Nokia acquired Infinera for US$2.3 billion to increase its scale in optical networks, a move to bolster future products and improve its profit line.  

Telecom Egypt and Hungary-based 4iG Group struck a partnership to build fibre access infrastructure, to commercialise Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) and Fibre-To-The-Site (FTTS) fibre access infrastructure on a wholesale basis in Egypt.

Bangladesh’s telecoms minister reportedly warned the country’s telcos on Sunday that they will be forced to compensate for mobile call drops, while the country’s regulator is turning to AI to deal with complaints.

The ongoing saga of Malaysian 5G wholesale operator Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) took a new twist on Friday when four telco investors agreed to take slightly larger-than-planned stakes in the company – at least until August.

Telefonica’s Venezuelan unit Movistar announced plans to upgrade around 500 4G base stations.

Romanian operator group Digi Communications secured a three-year loan amounting €150 million to repay a €450 million bond due in 2025.

At Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2024, James Chen, President, Carrier Business at Huawei, gave a keynote speech entitled "Secondary 5G Innovation: Charting a New Course for Business Success".

Speaking at a keynote on the opening day of MWC Shanghai, David Wang (pictured), Executive Director of the Board, Chairman of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board, Huawei, gave a speech entitled "Accelerating 5G-A Development and Opening the Mobile AI Era".

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison President Director and CEO Vikram Sinha opened up on his strategy to transition the operator into a native AI technology company for lofty growth targets, and contribute to Indonesia’s ambition to become a developed nation over the next two decades.

Congolese Fiber Optic Company (SOCOF SA) has reportedly signed a partnership with the Agency for the Coordination and Monitoring of Collaboration Agreements (APCSC) to deploy optical fibre networks along new roads to be built in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata said on Thursday it has officially take 100% control of rival telco Bharti Airtel Lanka via a share swap, sealing a deal that has been in the works for over a year.

In what is described as a significant move to accelerate the country’s digital transformation, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board of the Philippines has approved a flagship infrastructure project designed to boost broadband connectivity nationwide, particularly in remote areas, and strengthen cybersecurity.

Nigerian banks have reportedly started paying a debt they owed operators, following the payment plan that was agreed upon in the last quarter of 2023. As of November 2023, Nigerian banks owed telecom firms ₦200 billion (about US$132 million) for using their unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) services.