Indonesia-based telecoms tower and network infrastructure provider Balitower has contracted Nokia to provide a new IP routing solution to boost capacity and improve operational efficiency of its IP network.

Telecoms tower company IHS Nigeria, a subsidiary of IHS Towers, announced on Wednesday that Airtel Nigeria has signed a deal renewing its contract and expanding its tenancies to almost 10,000 over the next five years.

A Singaporean technology group is expanded into the broader managed services sector beyond Singapore via a contract with a leading Malaysian operator.

Two stories from two different continents have, coincidentally, highlighted the issue of making emergency calling easier, albeit in two very distinct ways.

Veon-owned Ukrainian operator Kyivstar revealed plans to broaden its capex spend up to US$1 billion in the next five years, as the operator rebuilds its operations stricken by war. 

Telenor announced on Tuesday that it has established what it says is the world's southernmost mobile base station in Antarctica, providing coverage for the Norwegian Polar Institute's Troll research station.

China Mobile has reportedly launched two experimental satellites in low earth orbit that will be used to test 5G and 6G architectures, particuarly in terms of integrating satellite and terrestial networks to support both technologies.

International service provider Sparkle, Telecom Italia's (TIM) infrastructure and connectivity business, has announced the expansion of its network footprint to Iraq with the opening of a new point of presence (PoP) in Erbil.

Service provider Orange Cote D'Ivoire says it is developing its network and data services with help from the latest traffic analysis and policy control software from Enea, a specialist in software for telecoms and cybersecurity.

It’s been widely reported that communications across Sudan were down on Monday this week. The country’s military government – and spokespeople from the telecoms sector – have blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF).

Telkom Indonesia is mulling the sale of shares in its data centre unit with a potential deal possibly being done in H2, reported Reuters.

With the ink hardly dry on a UAE-Malaysia agreement to help the Asia-Pacific country build more data centres, the UAE has now signed a digital infrastructure deal with Greece.

MTN struck a deal to have financial powerhouse Mastercard invest US$200 million to take a minority stake in the operator’s fintech unit. 

A rather unusual 5G story comes from Chile, where operator Movistar recently requested that the imminent second 5G spectrum tender be suspended – a request that has been rejected by the Chilean antitrust authority the TDLC (el Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia).

Geespace, a subsidiary of Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, says it has added another 11 LEO satellites to its planned global constellation designed primarily to serve connected and self-driving cars.

E& Carrier & Wholesale Services (C&WS) an internet, mobile and regional hub for international cable systems, is set to anchor the 2Africa subsea cable; this will be the most extensive subsea cable system landing in the UAE to date.

Nokia announced it signed a multi-year patent cross-license agreement with Chinese smartphone vendor vivo. 

Saudi Arabia has launched Alat, a new company that says it aims to transform the country into a global hub for sustainable technology manufacturing.

Subsea cable activity in the Asia-Pacific region isn’t slowing down any time soon, judging by two recent announcements.

Telefonica Peru reported over half of data traffic stemmed from fibre optic cables and is now aiming to have over three-quarters of traffic on fibre by the end of 2024. 

Ericsson announced on Friday it has signed long-term co-operation agreement with Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) for joint research in tech areas including AI and edge compute to contribute to development of 6G.

Telecoms infrastructure firm edotco announced Friday it has signed a collaborative agreement with electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions provider ChargeSini to deploy EV charging infrastructure across Malaysia.

Telecom Egypt and Budapest-based telecoms/IT group 4iG have formally established a joint venture to build their proposed express subsea cable between Albania and Egypt.

Vietnam has confirmed plans – approved by the government and announced by the Ministry of Information and Communications – to invest in two to four more international telecommunications cables with a data capacity of 60 Tbps by 2025.

Indian conglomerate Tata Group is reportedly in talks to partner with Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer Pegatron to set up an iPhone factory in India, as Apple aims to shift its reliance on Chinese manufacturing.

Vodacom Group reported revenue increased by 26.8% to ZAR8.9 billion (US$477 million) in Q3, fuelled by its acquisition of Vodafone Egypt, as well as hitting the 200 million customers milestone in the quarter, doubling its base since 2018. 

Polish IT company Comarch announced that it has signed a deal with Ukrainian telco Kyivstar to help modernize and update its field service maintenance activities.

The Indian government has extended the customs duty exemption given to vessels engaged in laying submarine cables to 30 September. The exemption was originally due to end on 31 March.

Google isn’t the only tech giant to be promoting a cloud-related first in Africa this week. Oracle, which already has a cloud presence on the continent, has announced plans to establish a new public cloud region in Nairobi.

Google launched its first cloud region in South Africa, a move to provide low latency cloud services to businesses in the continent. 

Digital payments in Cambodia grew significantly in 2023 in terms of digital wallet accounts and transactions, according to the latest figures from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC).

Indonesia’s internet penetration rate has reportedly edged up from 78.1% this time last year to 79.5% as of January 2024, with younger people – particularly ‘Generation Z’ – continuing to be the key demographic in terms of usage.