Global smartphone shipments are predicted to grow by 4% year-on-year in 2024 to 1.21 billion units due to rebounding consumer demand.

Four ministries in Malaysia reportedly held talks on Saturday to develop an action plan to implement the country’s second 5G network, while telcos are expected to meet this month’s deadline to finalise their investment in the first one, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB).

Amazon Web Services announced that its long-planned AWS Asia Pacific (Bangkok) Region will go live in early 2025 as it makes good on its earlier pledge to invest more than 190 billion baht (US$5 billion) in Thailand by 2037.

Telkom Indonesia’s international arm Telin announced on Friday it has signed a MoU with Singtel to develop a new subsea cable system connecting Singapore and Indonesia to support the booming data centre market in both countries.

­­Orange completed the merger of Orange Romania S.A (ORO) and fixed provider Orange Romania Communications S.A (OROC), a move to create a fixed-mobile convergent player and remain competitive.

The Indonesian Competition Commission (KPPU) has reportedly ruled that Starlink’s aggressive discounts on its VSAT terminal kits and subscriptions do not amount to predatory pricing.

Malaysian property developer Mah Sing Group threw its hat in the country’s increasingly crowded data centre ring on Thursday by launching a new site in Southville City and announcing Bridge Data Centres (BDC) as its first partner.

Multi-service operator Orange Middle East & Africa (OMEA) and cloud technology provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced plans to bring AWS Wavelength, a new type of AWS infrastructure designed to run workloads that require low latency or edge resiliency, to Morocco and Senegal later this year.

Nokia has moved closer to exiting Russia, with the country’s President Vladimir Putin authorising state-backed Rostelecom to acquire the Finnish vendor’s stake in a Russian joint venture.

Google has announced plans to invest US$2 billion in Malaysia. It aims to develop its first data centre in the country, along with a Google Cloud hub.

Philippines-based operator Globe Telecom established an AI unit and appointed a Chief AI Officer in a move to enhance its operations by tapping into the technology.

Apple continued its retail expansion in Asia by revealing it will open its first Apple Store in Malaysia in June.

UAE-based Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) announced on Wednesday that it has struck a partnership with Indian satellite ground equipment firm SATCOM Technologies to explore opportunities to provide satellite services in Zimbabwe.

Intelsat said on Wednesday it has deployed a dual-satellite connectivity solution for the Palau National Communications Corporation (PNCC) that gives the archipelago extra backup international capacity if its only subsea cable link fails.

A puzzling chain of events has seen the Mozambican government suspend the new mobile communications tariffs which its own regulatory body for telecommunications had decided were necessary on 2 May.

The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has established the Neo Space Group (NSG), a wholly owned PIF company whose mission will be to become a national champion in the Saudi satellite and space sector.

XL Axiata, one of the leading telecommunication companies in Indonesia, has partnered with Ericsson to deploy its dual-mode 5G core solution.

Greek operator OTE Group inked an agreement to sell its Romanian mobile unit to Digi Communications.

Aspiring LEO satellite operator Rivada Space Networks announced on Tuesday that it has signed on new partners in five markets across Asia-Pacific, including the Philippines and Brunei, for its "Outernet" satellite broadband network.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Tuesday that it has struck a deal to sell off its minority stake in Kazakh wholesale telecoms infrastructure services provider TNS+ to focus on its mobile operation, Beeline Kazakhstan.

Nokia announced on Tuesday that it has teamed with Global Fiber Peru to help complete deployment of a new subaquatic fibre network to bring multi-gigabit broadband access to 400 communities in the Amazon rainforest.

Intelsat, operator of one of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks, has announced that it has become the first foreign GEO satellite operator licensed to sell products in the Philippines.

Data centre operator Raxio Data Centres has announced the opening of Raxio Mozambique (Raxio MZ1), the country’s first Tier III Uptime-certified data centre. Plans for the centre were revealed in 2021. Building began in late 2022.

Malaysia is apparently targeting an estimated US$107 billion – or more – in investment for its semiconductor industry, an industry in which it is already well established, accounting for 13% of global testing and packaging, according to some reports.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG), an American global management consulting firm, has been asked to prepare a three-year roadmap to improve the competitiveness of state-owned Indian operator BSNL.

Smartphone shipments in Latin America surged 23.3% year-on-year in Q1 due to retailers moving to clear inventory, and Chinese vendors pushing aggressively.

Digital infrastructure company Equinix officially opened its first two International Business Exchange (IBX) data centres in Malaysia on Monday – one in Johor and the other in Kuala Lumpur.

LEO satellite operator Starlink has been cleared for a licence to offer services in Zimbabwe by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who said he has given the country’s telecoms regulator approval to do so.

Telkom South Africa’s planned US$355 million selloff of its Swiftnet tower business to infrastructure-focused private equity firm Actis cleared another hurdle on Friday after its shareholders unanimously voted in favor of the deal.

Global digital infrastructure provider Edgnex Data Centres by DAMAC has announced plans to invest in its first data centre in Indonesia.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has reportedly decided to let mobile operators pay spectrum fees in local currency rather than the costlier option of US dollars.

Digital infrastructure company Equinix is claiming that its third data centre in Rio de Janeiro state, RJ3, is the largest investment ever made by the sector in the Brazilian state. It is said to have an initial budget of US$94 million.