Cashless innovation continues across Africa. This time Kenyan bank KCB is partnering with payment giant Visa and technology company Thales to enable contactless payment transactions.

The Indian government approved chip manufacturer Micron Technology’s plan to build a US$2.7 billion semiconductor packaging and testing facility in West India.

Guatemala’s regulator SIT (Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones) is reviewing several requests for spectrum licences in the 700MHz band.

American Tower Corporation has rebuked Smile’s allegation that it “illegally disconnected” the Ugandan operator from its network.

Lynk Global has partnered with Palau’s largest operator PNCC to provide satellite-direct-to-mobile phone services to the island nation using Lynk’s “cell-towers-in-space”.

Satellite company SES ceased merger talks with rival Intelsat, it confirmed in a statement today (June 22). 

South African operator Cell C has announced the successful completion of its move to a virtual radio access network model – some months before its originally announced target date.

Ericsson’s new Mobility Report highlights continuing global 5G growth, with India apparently leading the way.

STT GDC Indonesia, a leading data centre provider, has officially launched its first data centre facility, STT Jakarta 1, in Bekasi, Jawa Barat. The data centre campus will support up to 72 megawatts of critical IT capacity, with STT Jakarta 1 supporting up to 19.5 MW.

Somalian service provider Somtel is deploying the DZS Saber compact and environmentally hardened coherent optics solutions to future-proof its dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) backbone network for reliable, cost-effective delivery of high-bandwidth aggregation and transport services.

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has talked up the potential benefits of privatising state-owned ICT companies.

Safaricom and Kenyan operator Jamii Telecommunication have reportedly partnered with Shenzhen TeleOne Technology to locally manufacture smartphones, with a factory to be operational in two months' time. 

Nicaragua’s telecoms regulator Telcor (Instituto Nicaraguense de Telecomunicaciones y Correos / Nicaraguan Institute for Telecommunications and Posts) is set to have its powers expanded by the country’s National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional).

Winity, which became a new Brazilian national mobile operator in 2021, and satellite operator Hughes have announced a pilot project involving prepaid mobile internet in remote areas.

Malawian asset financier Yellow has closed $14 million in series B funding to expand its business, which involves digital and financial products related to connectivity and solar power.

Chile’s Entel is now offering 3.5GHz 5G coverage in Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island.

Google is reportedly searching for suppliers in India to build its Pixel smartphone range as the US company pivots away from manufacturing in China. 

Thai operator True Corp revealed ambitions to reduce e-waste dumping into landfills to zero by 2030, as it launched a campaign to spur customers to donate old devices to collection points. 

Russia’s Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has lost its longstanding legal battle against Turkmenistan after it was allegedly forced to abandon its operations in the market in 2017.

Telefonica-owned business-focused company Movistar Empresas and Nokia have announced a strategic alliance to accelerate the digital transformation of companies in the Latin American region through the development of industrial IoT networks.

Digital communications technology corporation Cisco has announced plans to establish a data centre in Saudi Arabia dedicated to cloud-delivered security.

Spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and satellite communications company SpaceX has launched a new Indonesian communications satellite as part of an ambitious project called SATRIA.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of pan-African technology group Cassava Technologies, says it has successfully installed the Mauritius Telecom T3 subsea cable connecting Mauritius to South Africa.