The Kyrgyz Republic (more commonly known as Kyrgyzstan) has enjoyed relatively strong economic growth over the last decade – at least in terms of other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries in Eastern Europe and Asia that formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Hungary has commenced the next stage of its device replacement subsidy programme, which offers mobile users HUF20,000 (US$63.4) towards the cost of a 4G or 5G device if they currently only have access to a 2G or 3G handset.

The past week has seen some strong measures from Costa Rica’s incoming president directed at Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (Grupo ICE) the Costa Rican government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) has selected Nokia’s DWDM solution in the access layer to upgrade its network to 5G for meeting future service capacity and reliability needs.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies and PEACE Cable Company have partnered to introduce 800Gbps of additional subsea capacity in Mombasa on the latter’s global submarine cable.

There’s been good news at last for cash-strapped Indian operator Vodafone Idea as recent results still indicate a net loss – but a slightly less worrying one than the results from the previous quarter.

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) announced that Telecel, NetOne and Econet are now sharing 267 sites.

Angola Cables, a multinational ICT solutions and network service provider, and Flexential, a provider of data centre colocation, cloud and connectivity, have announced a partnership to drive colocation and interconnection options for customers in Southern and West African markets.

Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1) Consortium, owner of one of the largest consortium cable systems in the world, has selected the ICE6 coherent 800G solution from optical networking solutions company Infinera to increase its submarine network capacity and provide diverse, resilient connectivity across European, Asian, African and Middle Eastern markets.

Just over a week ago India seized $725.5 million from handset maker Xiaomi's local bank accounts, claiming the firm had made illegal remittances abroad disguised as royalty payments. The issue now seems to have prompted comment from both the Chinese government and its state media, a reminder, perhaps, of the ongoing tensions between India and China in recent years.

United Group and investment company PPF are the remaining bidders for Telekom Romania Mobile Communications (TRMC) from Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE), reported Ziarul Financiar. 

Industrial real estate company AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp (ALLHC) and FLOW Digital Infrastructure, which invests and operates in the key physical assets of the digital infrastructure ecosystem, have entered into a framework agreement for carrier-neutral data centre development in the Philippines.

Two Israeli technology firms, Telrad and Cellwize, are in the headlines after news of acquisitions – agreed or planned – by African technology company Liquid Intelligent Technologies and wireless tech innovator Qualcomm.

Safaricom has reportedly been granted 60MHz of spectrum in the 2600MHz band by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) in preparation for its commercial 5G launch.

Globe Telecom said its towers are still on the market and it does not feel the pressure to sell assets immediately despite rival PLDT’s recent billion-dollar deal.

Thai market leader Advanced Info Services (AIS) has voiced its opposition to the merger between rivals True and Dtac, claiming the deal would affect consumers through diminished competition. 

Ethio Telecom has announced the launch of its pre-commercial 5G services in Addis Ababa, but the operator warned a full launch will depend on demand. 

Given the Angolan government’s aim to bring in more competition to the telecoms sector and new operator Africell’s aim to be a disruptive force in that market, then it seems that both may have got their wish after news that, in its first month of full operation, Africell has won over two million subscribers.

With 5G rollout imminent and right of way issues among a number of factors that could potentially delay it, this is probably a good time for India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to launch a portal that is intended to act as a single-window clearance for tracking the status of right of way applications.

Open Access Data Centres (OADC), a company that says it has been established to transform the provision of data centre services for Africa, has announced the deployment of what it describes as the continent’s first large-scale, open-access edge data centre environment.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has moved to allay consumer concerns around a possible tariff increase following a request from the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

Trade association the GSMA has launched the Mobile Money API Compliance Verification Service to support the growth of trusted mobile money ecosystems in developing nations.

RailTel Corporation of India Limited, a central public sector unit under the country's Ministry of Railways, has again seen recognition of its strength in the telecoms infrastructure space, this time through an order from the Madhya Pradesh government for expansion of the State Data Centre (SDC) and establishment of a disaster recovery (DR) centre.

Brazil’s telecommunications watchdog Anatel has approved the sale of Oi subsidiary and fibre broadband provider V.Tal to wholesale telecoms operator Globenet. 

Edge Centres, which provides self-powered off-grid data centres, and, as we reported recently, has announced that it has begun building its first facilities outside Australia, is adding Vietnam to its portfolio.

Technology services company NTT, one of the world’s largest data centre operators, has launched a new hyperscale data centre park NAV1 in Navi Mumbai, India, containing NAV1A, the first of up to four data centres planned for the park.

Helios Towers posted “strong” growth in its Q1 results with a 23% hike in revenue year-on-year (YoY), which is attributed to the company’s established African markets, and new acquisitions in Senegal, Madagascar and Malawi.

The Malaysian government has announced it has signed up two companies to commercial services agreements to Digital Nasional, the firm established by the state to operate a single wholesale 5G network.

Cameroon has signed a MoU with Central African Republic (CAR) that will see the two countries’ communications networks interconnected by terrestrial fibre optic infrastructure by the start of 2023.

Lebanon state-owned operators Touch and Alfa have called for the government to mandate an increase in tariff prices, a move they said is required to curb their dwindling revenues to “ensure the continuity” of the telecoms sector.