The UAE’s Ministry of Investment and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to foster collaboration and investment in the digital infrastructure sector, specifically focusing on Egypt’s data centre projects.

Africa’s smartphone market has shown resilience with a second consecutive quarter of strong recovery in Q3 2023, according to analysis from Canalys.

Scala Data Centres, a Latin American platform for sustainable data centres in the hyperscale market, has announced the operations launch of its first site in the Brazilian Southern Region, based in Porto Alegre city.

Kenya’s Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary, Eliud Owalo, has announced that the development of 1,450 ICT hubs in all wards across the country will begin in 2024.

M-Pesa, the mobile money platform used by more than 32.1 million Kenyans and over 60 million customers across eight African markets, is taking a new direction in the payments field.

Senegal’s telecoms regulator awarded its second 5G licence to Saga Africa Holdings with the company paying XOF13.5 billion (US$22.5 million).

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata said on Monday it has introduced a service to make it easy for customers to transition from traditional SIM cards to eSIMs.

The Indian government on Monday introduced its long awaited new telecoms bill that proposes to give the government more power in national security matters. It also potentially settles the debate on satellite spectrum allocations, and doesn't cover OTTs.

Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) Group, a leading global energy player, says it has centralised its IT infrastructure on Nutanix, a leader in hybrid multicloud computing, for retail expansion and to deliver what is described as a slick digitally driven customer experience.

It looks like the infrastructure deal between Entel and OnNet Fibra in Chile is going ahead – though there seem to be strings attached.

There’s been another service upgrade announcement from state-owned incumbent Ethio Telecom, presumably aiming to position itself as an attractive alternative to new entrant Safaricom Ethiopia in what has become a much more competitive Ethiopian market in recent months.

Lesira-Teq, a leading South African original equipment manufacturer known for its innovative smart water meters, has announced a strategic partnership with Comsol Networks, a leader in the IoT network domain in South Africa.

Tanzania has secured what is described as a crucial position in orbit at 16 degrees West for its own satellite, paving the way for its first satellite launch.

Telefonica is reportedly considering to buy troubled Brazilian operator Oi’s broadband unit as part of expansion plans in Brazil. 

Authorized mobile phone importers in Sri Lanka have reportedly warned the government that its decision to not only raise its value added tax (VAT) next year but also apply it to mobile phones will only benefit parallel importers and make the grey market problem even worse.

The debate over power limits for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite systems saw a resolution of sorts at the World Radio Conference 2023 (WRC-23) in Dubai, with potential regulatory action forestalled until at least 2031.

Proof of the continuing importance of the handheld satellite phone market comes with the announcement that Thuraya has launched what it calls an enhanced generation of its popular XT-PRO DUAL satellite and cellular feature phone.

The Indian government revealed chip manufacturer Foxconn will invest INR139.11 billion (US$1.67 billion) a further in Karnataka state, a move by the Taiwan-based company to diversify away from its reliance on China. 

Germany-based LEO satellite operator Rivada Space Networks has announced a partnership with Thai Aerospace Industries (TAI) to provide connectivity services to commercial, military and general aviation sectors inside and outside Thailand.

The question of India’s use of the 6GHz band appears to remain unresolved despite the ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) reaching an agreement to open part of the 6GHz band for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) – or mobile telephony services.

Last week’s news that tower company IHS had boosted its offer to MTN Nigeria for the lease of 2,500 tower sites in an apparent attempt to get it to reconsider its contract with American Tower Corporation has received short shrift from the operator.

Copia Global, an e-commerce/fintech platform for African mass-market consumers, and payment giant Visa have announced a strategic five-year partnership to provide digital financial services to middle to low-income consumers in Kenya.

Indonesian telco Telkomsel is collaborating with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) to launch ‘5G Hive Laboratory’, a research centre to develop 5G tech solutions and innovations.

Ericsson and Malaysian wholesale 5G operator Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) said on Wednesday that they have successfully completed a proof of concept that uses intent-based operations powered by AI and ML to manage radio sources more efficiently.

Vietnam-based Viettel Group is reportedly making plans to expand its operations in Cambodia via local subsidiary Metfone to invest in more technologies and create jobs.

The Rwandan government has partnered with Ignite Power, a provider of solar-based solutions, to connect schools in the country to the internet and solar power.

Eutelsat OneWeb has signed an exclusive distribution partnership agreement with Libyan operator RLTT (Rawafed Libya for Telecommunications & Technology) to provide high-speed, low latency connectivity across Libya.

Indonesia’s new internet satellite, SATRIA-1, has reportedly been successfully tested and should be ready to begin operations in early 2024.