Beleaguered South African operator Cell C has had a reprieve after a vote in which some lenders have agreed to take an 80% loss on their debt.

In a reminder of the changing business models of many operators in Africa, it has been reported that the M-Pesa virtual Visa card, introduced in June, is now undercutting Kenya’s commercial banks in the foreign exchange market.

Telefonica Moviles Mexico (Movistar) claims to have finished migrating its 3G and 4G data traffic onto AT&T Mexico’s network after the firms signed a last mile agreement in late 2019.

Telkom tower subsidiary Mitratel is considering raising its fibre optic rollout target for this year past 6,000km on the back of increased demand for fibre optic broadband in Indonesia.

After mixed messages recently about the cash-strapped state owned carrier, Zambia’s government has finally categorically denied media reports that it has decided to sell Zamtel.

Satellite connectivity provider OneWeb entered the Brazilian market after being awarded a 15-year landing rights license by regulator Anatel, as part of long-term plans to expand in South America.

Twitter has commenced a legal challenge against content takedown orders issue by the Indian government.

Pan-African e-commerce platform Jumia has announced a partnership with Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme. The joint aim is to roll out new devices at a time when Africa’s smartphone market is enjoying high growth; this in turn will benefit e-commerce.

Africell, a leading African mobile operator group, has implemented the Answers chatbot solution from cloud communication company Infobip.

Brazilian capital Brasilia is to lead the way in the country’s 5G rollout with the launch of  a 3.5GHz 5G network on Wednesday 6 July.

The Algerian government has closed its purchase of VEON’s 45.57% stake in the mobile operator Djezzy via its National Investment Fund.

Globe Telecom partnered up with financial institutions including Unionbank to bolster its cybersecurity and revealed it blocked nine million scam messages in the first half of this year alone.

Operator Ooredoo Group and international communications company BICS have announced a multi-year agreement through which BICS is to manage voice services across the group’s operations.

Thailand-based operator Advanced Info Services (AIS) struck an agreement to buy shares in firms owned by Jasmine International, a move to enhance consumer access to broadband from rural locations and remain competitive in the face of merging rivals.

While government and industry in another major economy, India, are still debating how and when to enable private 5G networks, in Brazil steel producer Gerdau and Embratel, a major player in both voice and data communication, have already announced an agreement to roll out a dedicated 5G and LTE private network.

The Guinean government said it is a major priority for the state to relaunch operator Guinea Telecom, as a long-term move to reduce the cost of connectivity in the country and spur digital transformation.

The Equiano subsea internet cable has been brought ashore in Namibia just under 18 months after the February 2021 announcement that Paratus Group, together with Telecom Namibia, had been selected to build the cable landing station (CLS) for Equiano.

Kacific has partnered with Indonesian operator Teleglobal to provide a large-scale deployment of mobile backhaul services to the archipelago’s major telecommunications operators.

MTN Group has announced CEO appointments in its Cameroon, Rwanda and Uganda units to support its digital-focused Ambition 2025  strategy for growth.

Airtel Africa has launched SmartCash Payment Service Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary, to provide secure and reliable financial services across Nigeria.

China Mobile-backed Pakistani operator Zong has partnered with ZTE to implement a dual-band (1800MHz and 2100MHz) FDD Massive MIMO upgrade on its 4G network.

Telenor stressed it will stay in the Thai market after the proposed merger between Total Access Communications (DTAC) and True Corporation, with future plans to transform the merged entity into a telecoms technology company to tap into new growth verticals.  

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has told leading operator Grameenphone that it must stop selling new SIMs in the latest escalation of an ongoing dispute over quality of service.

Chilean operator Entel claims to have extended its 5G coverage to all regions in the country, with the deployment currently 83% complete.

It seems Globe Telecom’s search is nearing the end as the Philippines-based operator revealed it has entered exclusive talks to sell its tower portfolio in a deal that could be worth US$1.5 billion.

Indian telecoms mogul Mukesh Ambani has left the role of director at Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Millicom deepened its hold in Latin America by taking full ownership of Tigo Panama, as part of wider plans to spread its operations in the country.

Brazil may be about to join the rush to standardise smartphone chargers. The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), the Brazilian telecom regulator, has proposed making USB-C chargers mandatory for all smartphones sold in the country.

The latest nation looking to abandon 3G seems to be Tunisia, with an announcement that the state-owned incumbent Tunisie Telecom wants to get rid of 3G to focus on 4G.

Malaysia’s communications minister has indicated that an announcement will be made by next week regarding the sale of a 70% equity stake in Digital Nasional Berhad.

Satellite operator Inmarsat, satellite communication solutions companies Global Beam Telecom and Cobham, and global two-way radio manufacturing company Hytera have announced the launch of a new seamless push-to-talk (PTT) communications solution aimed at the Middle East market.

Togolese regulator ARCEP (Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts) has imposed a fine on operator Togocom for “serious breaches of its [service] obligation.”