Satcoms giant Hughes has again been involved in deals that will deliver remote connectivity, this time in both India and Costa Rica.

Viettel prepared for its 5G deployment by tapping telecoms solutions firm Infinera to modernise its network for a pilot test. 

Ooredoo Group is reportedly considering the sale of its tower infrastructure, following a slew of other operators in raising capital through asset sales to fund growth plans.

Africa Data Centres is back in the news again. This time the company that describes itself as the largest network of interconnected, carrier and cloud-neutral data centre facilities in Africa has joined forces with Nigeria's principle internet exchange point, IXPN.

When we reported on the new rules on data storage introduced in Vietnam and announced in August, we added: “We’ll no doubt see how operators and social media companies respond fairly soon.” We didn’t have to wait long for a response, though it came from a slightly different source.

There may be more regulatory issues for the online giants to deal with, this time in Mexico where Google and Apple have been the target of accusations of uncompetitive behaviour.

Telecoms giant Bharti Airtel says its subsidiary, Nxtra by Airtel, is to become the first data centre company in India to install fuel cell technology to provide clean energy. Nxtra designs, builds and operate the largest network of hyperscale, core and edge data centres in the country.

The Jordanian Telecommunications Regulatory Commission penned an agreement with operator Zain in preparation for the launch of 5G services, following similar deals with Orange and Umniah.

Brazilian newcomer Winity Telecom has signed a six-year deal with Amdocs to support its deployment of 4G and 5G networks across remote rural areas of Brazil.

Intracom Telecom has announced its complete exit from the Russian market in the framework of the European Union sanctions on Russia imposed on February 25th 2022.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) plans to sell off a spare 2×5MHz block of spectrum in the 2.1GHz band as it looks to push 5G deployments across the country.

A long-running dispute over unused spectrum in and around the 3500MHz band in Costa Rica appears to be at an end after an agreement this week between the government and the state utility that owned the spectrum.

ZTE and China Unicom have completed the industry's first trial of integrated sensing, computation, control and communication on a drone at a low altitude in Shanghai.

Telefonica Moviles (Movistar) has commenced its rollout of a 5G-ready network in El Salvador.

Estonian regulator TTJA (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Jarelevalve Amet / Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority) has commenced its latest round of 5G spectrum auctions, with six lots in the 700MHz band available.

A spectrum auction in Guatemala in the mid-2.5GHZ band, delayed for a number of years, is, apparently, set to go ahead.

The World Bank's private investment arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has announced plans to invest in Safaricom Ethiopia.

Malaysia-based Axiata Group’s tower unit edotco was reportedly considering the sale of shares to raise US$600 million to support growth plans across the Asia Pacific, reported Bloomberg.

BICS, an international connectivity enabler, and satellite-direct-to-phone telecoms company Lynk Global, have signed an agreement to enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to expand mobile coverage to people in remote areas around the world.

Nigeria has, for now, held off on plans to impose a 5% tax on telecommunications services that the Ministry of Finance and the Nigerian Customs Service had suggested would be imposed in 2023.

Safaricom expanded its network pilot to the Oromia region, as the operator continues plans to deploy its commercial network in stages with the aim of connecting 25 locations by April next year.

Uzbekistan’s state-owned mobile provider Mobiuz has begun offering 5G services in areas of Tashkent.

Investor 3i Infrastructure has completed a $512 million investment to acquire a 100% stake in Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), a leading global data communications service provider and owner of the world’s largest private subsea fibre optic networks.

Leading IT infrastructure and services company NTT says it has expanded its hyperscaler footprint in Malaysia with its sixth data centre facility.

Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA) has ordered the country’s mobile operators to temporarily block calls and data services for unregistered SIM cards as part of its registration drive.

South Africa’s Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has announced plans to shut down South Africa’s 2G and 3G networks by 2025. The proposal has now been published for public comment.

A war of words appears to have broken out in Burundi following the decision by the authorities to close operator Smart.

Ooredoo reportedly prepared to sell its Myanmar unit to Singapore-based telecoms infrastructure company The One Matrix Ventures (TOMV).

The Indian government has apparently released the first tranche of the recently announced Rs1.64 lakh crore (over US$20 billion) revival package it has agreed to give the state-owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

Two of the biggest players in the cloud space, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google, are planning to enhance their presence in South Africa.