At Mobile World Congress 2024, Developing Telecoms spoke to Atilio Rulli, VP of Public Relations at Huawei Latin America & Caribbean, to discuss how Huawei’s solutions are enabling smarter connected farming in Brazil, a market where agribusiness is an enormous contributor to GDP.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has reportedly urged the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to do more to stop the theft of telecoms gear from cell towers, which has escalated in the last few months amid aggressive 5G rollouts.

UAE operator etisalat by e& has become the first telecom operator to partner with UAE-based satellite operator Yahsat for its Direct-to-Device (D2D) strategy to enable satellite connections for standard smartphones.

Digicel Fiji announced on Friday it is working with Nokia to upgrade its cell sites to support its 5G rollout across the archipelago, less than a month after rival telco Vodafone Fiji received clearance for a non-commercial 5G pilot.

Viettel Group announced it has officially won the Ministry of Information and Communications’ auction for the 2500-2600 MHz band for 5G usage in Vietnam.

Philippine telco PLDT announced on Thursday it plans to switch 33 facilities in Greater Metro Manila to use 100% renewable energy via a partnership with ACEN’s supply retail unit, ACEN Renewable Energy Solutions (ACEN RES).

Echostar-owned Hughes Network Systems announced on Wednesday that Kazakhstan’s Republican Center of Space Communication (RCSC) will deploy its Jupiter System ground platform to connect remote villages in the country.

An expanded connectivity offering from two major names in satellite communications – Intelsat and CDL – is said to hold out the promise of delivering new land mobility services throughout India.

Philippines-based operator Globe Telecom deployed hybrid solar units across 26 sites as part of wider plans to become a net zero emissions company by 2050. 

Angola Cables, a multinational telecommunications operator of fibre optic telecommunication cables, and carrier neutral and open-access provider EllaLink have signed an agreement to boost data transfer and improve capacity between South America and Europe.

Data from Dell’Oro Group showed Huawei was the leading telecom equipment vendor by revenue in 2023, but the overall market had contracted 5% year-on-year, snapping five years of consecutive growth. 

stc Bahrain has launched what it claims is the first instant mobile eSIM activation service that uses AI-powered facial recognition to authorise users, one month after Bahrain's telecoms regulator issued guidelines for facial recognition usage in telecoms services.

Thailand may reportedly lose at least one of its two satellite orbital slots next year if the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) can’t find any takers in its upcoming allocation plan.

Indonesian telco XL Axiata and Nokia say that they have successfully completed a five-year project to modernise around 4,400 of XL Axiata’s existing sites in Central Java, to include 5G deployments in four cities.

MTN, the largest mobile network operator in Africa, and global communications provider Omnispace have announced a collaboration to provide voice, data, fintech, digital, enterprise, wholesale and API services to over 290 million customers in 19 countries.

Private equity firm KKR & Co will invest US$400 million in telecoms tower operations in the Philippines, according to an announcement made by the US Department of Commerce this week.

A number of Indian press reports have suggested that state-owned operator BSNL has installed 3,500 4G-capable base transceiver stations (BTSs) in five north Indian states, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh West.

Malaysian operator Maxis revealed on Tuesday that it has signed an MoU with Dell Technologies to design cybersecurity and 5G-powered endpoint solutions for enterprises.

Cambodia’s Minister of Posts and Telecommunication has reportedly promised that the ministry is preparing to launch 5G technology in in the “near future” to support the country’s digital ambitions.

Leading global connectivity providers Arelion and Telxius say they are collaborating to expand connectivity to North and Latin America.

The volume of payment technology news from Africa grows apace with two recent announcements: a payment services licence for Unlimit in Tanzania and two companies – ExiPay and Izwe – teaming up to launch a new point of sale device in Zambia.

Thai operator AIS is in the news again today, this time through the announcement that it is joining forces with IPification to deliver next-generation phone number verification solutions to Thailand.

Technology giant Microsoft has said it will train 100,000 Philippine women in artificial intelligence technology and cybersecurity.

Research group Opensignal has produced its latest analysis of the mobile network customer experience in South Africa, in which, it says, MTN again takes home the largest haul of awards.

AIS partnered with Google Cloud to deliver a suite of business solutions to SMEs in Thailand, a move to push growth in its enterprise segment. 

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) revealed key initiatives on Monday to boost local development of 5G and 6G use cases, as well as a skilled workforce to support it.

Digicel Samoa announced on Monday that it has been granted conditional approval from the Government of Samoa to launch 5G technology, and is already working with Nokia to upgrade its cell tower sites.

NOW Telecom suffered another legal setback in its quest to become the next major telco in the Philippines after the Supreme Court upheld earlier rulings denying its petition for a preliminary injunction against the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Networking systems, services and software company Ciena has announced an upgrade to support growing demand for more bandwidth for the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable across the Asia-to-Europe route.