Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du) has announced that it is joining forces with services platform GoDaddy.

The board of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has greenlit plans to acquire rival Telenor Pakistan with a binding offer to be tabled in September.

Analyst company Canalys reported smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia fell 15% year-on-year in Q2 to 20.9 million units, the lowest total since 2014, macroeconomic conditions continue to dampen consumer confidence.

United Group, which describes itself as the leading multi-play telecoms and media provider in Southeast Europe, has confirmed that it has completed the sale of its mobile tower infrastructure unit (TowerCo) in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia to Tawal, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's STC Group and a leading integrated ICT infrastructure company in the MENA region.

Reliance Jio chairman Mukesh Ambani stated the operator is on track to spread 5G coverage nationwide by the end of the year, supported by over one million 5G sites online, reported the Economic Times. 

Financial Software & Systems Pvt Ltd (FSS), a provider of payments technology solutions headquartered in India, has announced the launch of BLAZE, an advanced payments technology platform designed to meet the diverse needs of banks and financial institutions.

Global analytics software provider FICO has announced a partnership with telecom and mobile financial services solutions provider LigaData to bring advanced decision management and optimisation tools to telecommunications firms in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

It’s not just in India where platform-based initiatives are aiming to boost women-run businesses. In Malaysia rural broadband service provider MEASAT has officially activated the Program Transformasi Usahawan (PTU) segment of the KampungDigital365.com joint initiative by MEASAT and app-based parcel locker network system Parcel365.

Airtel Payments Bank, Frontier Markets and the Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth have announced the launch of She Leads Bharat:Udyam, an initiative to elevate 100,000 Indian women-owned small businesses with resources, tools and opportunities to grow and diversify their incomes.

Bahrain’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro, has announced the launch of iFactories, described as a national initiative to support the movement of the country’s industrial sector towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (sometimes called Industry 4.0).

Georgia’s Communications Commission has concluded an auction of 5G spectrum that attracted just one participant - Cellfie Mobile, formerly known as Veon (Beeline).

The Ghanaian government revealed plans to build a shared 4G and 5G network with operators and private investors, mirroring the Malaysian government’s strategy, as part of broader plans to build Ghana’s digital economy.

Operator MTN South Africa has announced a move into a new area of financial services. It has launched funeral cover to South African consumers under its new Khava brand – via WhatsApp.

Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) has approved the takeover of an 18.29% stake in Altan Redes by Australian investment group Macquarie.

Analyst company Canalys reported smartphone shipments in the Middle East saw 2% year-on-year growth in Q2, against the backdrop of overall shipments declining globally by 10%.

Yet another country has mandated SIM registration and set a deadline after which unregistered subscribers may be penalised. This time it's Mauritania, where the authorities are pushing for a process that will involve biometric data in the interests, they say, of enhancing national security and a government drive to combat increasing mobile fraud.

Safaricom Ethiopia has reportedly hit five million subscribers less than a year since it launched in the populous East African nation, with ambitions to double that figure in March.