The adoption of 5G by industry for private networks hasn’t been as fast paced as many people may have hoped, but, as a new initiative in India shows, it’s certainly an ongoing focus for both industry and government.

Bharti Airtel has unveiled a new cybersecurity feature, Fraud Alert, aimed at protecting customers from password theft and one-time password (OTP)-related banking fraud.

e& Carrier & Wholesale and TNS Global announced on Wednesday that they are partnering to launch a new high-performance connectivity corridor between Kazakhstan and the UAE.

UAE-based telco du said on Thursday it is partnering with Cyprus-based independent subsea infrastructure provider Datawave Networks to land the latter’s Singapore-India-Gulf (SING) subsea cable system in the UAE.

Malaysia Rail Link (MRL) has appointed Maxis as preferred infrastructure and telecoms partner for its East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, which Maxis will co-develop with rival telco U Mobile.

Identy.io, a global biometric authentication technology company specialising in secure, mobile-first identity verification, has announced its expansion plans for Africa.

Malaysian telecoms group Axiata has promoted Group CFO Nik Rizal to CEO and managing director, succeeding Vivek Sood after nine years with the company.

Latam-GPT, a Latin American initiative to develop a language model built entirely in the region, was launched this week. It originates in Chile, where it was developed by the Chilean National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (Cenia).

Eutelsat said on Wedneday it is partnering with global non-profit organization unconnected.org to deploy satellite-powered community Wi-Fi in underserved aras in Tanzania, with plans to expand the project across Africa.

IHS Fiber Brasil announced on Wednesday it is quitting the Brazilian fibre sector after parent firm IHS Towers agreed to sell its 51% stake in fibre company I-Systems back to Brazilian operator TIM SA.

Sparkle revealed on Wednesday it has signed deals with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and Elettra to build its planned GreenMed subsea cable connecting the Middle East and the Balkans to Italy via the Adriatic Sea.

Kyivstar has completed the full acquisition of Ukrainian medical digital services platform Tabletki.ua for US$160 million, strengthening the operator’s expansion into healthcare.

Regulator the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) has suspended the Universal Telecommunications Operating Licence and Spectrum Authorisation of Starcell International Liberia, an operator about which little appears to be known.

Bayobab, a next-generation digital infrastructure company and an MTN Group company, and Mozambican operator TMCEL have announced a strategic partnership to strengthen Mozambique’s international connectivity.

Corero Network Security, a provider of DDoS protection solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with EdgeUno, a regional connectivity provider in Latin America, to expand automated DDoS protection as a fully managed service throughout the region.

Millicom has completed the acquisition of Telefónica’s Colombian unit Coltel in a US$215 million deal, paving the way for a merger with its Tigo operation to strengthen its position in the market.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison reported a 12% increase in net profit for its 2025 financial year, pointing to AI-driven initiatives, network upgrades and service innovation as key growth drivers.

Colt Technology Services revealed plans on Monday to strengthen its business in the Middle East to meet what it calls “a surge in growth opportunities” in the region driven by cloud adoption, AI investment, digital transformation and financial market growth.

Pan-African telecoms network services provider Paratus Group announced on Monday it has switched on a new terrestrial fibre route in East Africa connecting cities in Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda.

Thai telco True Corp said on Tuesday that its enterprise arm TrueBusiness is partnering with Japan’s SoftBank to co-develop innovations and tailor-made digital solutions for Thai enterprises.

Uzbek telco Ucell announced on Monday it has commercially launched 5G services in Termez in southern Uzbekistan.

Abu Dhabi-based technology holding group G42, and a consortium comprising IT services company the FPT Corporation and consumer-focused business the Viet Thai Group have signed a framework cooperation agreement to develop sovereign AI capabilities and cloud infrastructure across Vietnam.

Payment giant Mastercard and the UAE Cyber Security Council (CSC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen trust in the nation’s digital ecosystem.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) said its AI-powered cybersecurity software has detected and blocked more than 2 billion spam and scam attempts across its network, marking a major milestone in its efforts to protect customers.

The rush to build data centres in Malaysia continues apparently unabated, with new announcements targeting Cyberjaya, a planned city outside of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, and Banting, a town in the western peninsular state of Selangor.

Comarch, Hatif Libya, and Makman Technology Consulting have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) defining the next phase of their strategic cooperation in the area of autonomous networks.

Recent data centre news from the Middle East and North Africa includes announcements from the UAE and Tunisia that, as so often recently, focus on energy efficiency.

Niger’s Zamani Telecom has signed a partnership agreement with Hayo covering A2P monetisation and SMS firewall solutions.

Neterra is modernising its Bulgarian backbone network using solutions from Infinera, a part of Nokia.

The Egyptian government has struck a US$3.5 billion agreement with the country’s four mobile operators to double their existing spectrum holdings, in a move designed to underpin future digital transformation and next-generation services.

PLDT Enterprise announced on Friday it is collaborating with TikTok to launch TikTok Go LIVE! Studio Packages targeted at creators, multi-channel networks (MCNs) and SMEs in the Philippines.

Japan’s NTT Data announced on Monday it has struck a deal to buy UAE-based regional cloud consultancy Zero&One, which it says will strengthen its cloud capabilities in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.