Chinese company Highlander, which specialises in maritime and marine technology, has built what is described as the first commercial underwater data centre facility off Hainan island in China – and now wants to sell submerged data centre facilities to global customers.

As part of its debt-cutting plan, Digicel Group announced three-quarters of bondholders are set to take shares in the company to resolve its debts and reduce founder Denis O’Brien’s stake from 99.9% to 10% to have US$1.8 billion written off, reported the Irish Times.

Industrial action by employees of Lebanon’s state-run Ogero has been suspended by the Executive Council of the fixed operator’s union.

Veon Group announced it will use OneWeb low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites to extend its coverage in emerging markets.

It may come as little surprise to learn that mobile operator MTN South Africa is investing heavily to combat site vandalism and battery theft, but both are partly due to the problem of load shedding and power cuts, which MTN has also been forced to address.

Bharti Airtel, one of India’s biggest telecommunications service providers, has partnered with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), a division of India Post, to launch WhatsApp banking services for IPPB customers, enabling them to access banking services on their mobile phone.

African digital payments network MFS Africa has announced another deal targeting the remittance market. This time it is partnering Nigeria’s Access Bank to enable outward remittances from Kenya and Nigeria.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has called for state-owned TTCL (Tanzania Telecommunication Corporation) to reconsider its future as an operator given its failure in the telecoms space.

Montenegro’s Crnogorski Telekom (CT) has launched a commercial 5G network in the capital of Podgorica, and is lining up the launch of a new VoLTE service.

Uruguay’s regulator URSEC has until the end of April to hold 5G spectrum auctions after the tender’s specifications were cleared by the country’s President Luis Lacalle Pou on 30^th March.

MTN and Vodafone expanded a pilot roaming agreement nationwide in Ghana to bolster connectivity in the country, reported Ghana Web.

While 5G has been around for three years, its development speed has exceeded industry expectations. Around 240 commercial networks have launched during these three years, with the 5G customer base reaching 1 billion, accessing services through one of around 800 5G-compatible devices launched by a range of vendors.

Bangladeshi mobile money firm bKash has extended its existing partnership with Huawei.

SpaceX’s Starlink will launch operations in Ecuador on 1^st April, with its first services going live in the Galapagos Islands.

Telekom Malaysia completed its new fibre optic hub across the northern regions of Sabah and Sarawak to connect remote locations situated there.

Orange Liberia has commissioned Vanu to deploy at least 200 telecom towers as it seeks to improve rural coverage in the country.

AIS partnered with Bangkok Bank to expand its fintech strategy by launching a debit card, which the operator aims to have six million accounts opened by 2028.

MTN Ghana has broken ground prior to the construction of the Ghana ICT Hub, itself part of the broader Ghana Innovation Hub project to which MTN has committed US$25 million.

KIO, a data centre and digital infrastructure platform with more than 20 years of experience in colocation and IT services, has announced the signing of an agreement for the acquisition of a new data centre campus in Colombia.

Axiata Group’s proposed sale of shares in its tower unit edotco has attracted the interest of four possible buyers.

Philippines-based operator Globe Telecom penned a memorandum of understanding with Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), to enhance their communication channels and safeguard bank accounts against online fraud.

Total fixed communication services revenue in India is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4% from US$10.2 billion in 2022 to US$13.9 billion in 2027, mainly driven by the strong growth in the fixed broadband segment. That’s the view of data and analytics company GlobalData in its India Fixed Communications Forecast (Q1 2023).

A company working in satellite communications and two companies working in e-health have announced a partnership aiming to offer accessible healthcare in Africa through e-health solutions.

The Republic of Mauritius has completed implementation of a new population alerting solution. The solution was supplied by Everbridge, which specialises in critical event management (CEM) and national public warning solutions.

French regulator Arcep awarded 5G spectrum to operators in French Guiana, Saint‑Barthélemy and Saint‑Martin, paving the way for next-generation connectivity on the islands.

Huawei has announced that CFO Meng Wanzhou will become the vendor’s rotating chair for six months from 1^st April.

Actis, a leading global investor in sustainable infrastructure, has agreed to acquire 11 data centres across six countries in Latin America and the US from Nabiax, a European data centre operator owned by independent investment management firm Asterion Industrial Partners and service provider Telefonica.

Telecoms infrastructure provider Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) secured a US$20 million loan with plans to spend the cash on mobile towers to connect deep rural locations in six new African countries.

NLT Telecom, a Brazilian operator specializing in IoT, and floLIVE, a provider of global connectivity and network services for IoT, have announced their collaboration to provide dual-connectivity access to both Brazilian and international enterprise customers, including OEMs and mobile operators.