Hard on the heels of a busy MWC for both companies, Ooredoo Qatar and Ericsson have highlighted the successful implementation of what is described as the world’s first 5G indoor shareable solution in Qatar, achieving speeds of 1.5 gigabits per second (Gbps).

Leading Asian regional integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company edotco Group has further boosted its aim to be a major global tower player with the acquisition, through its local subsidiary PT edotco Infrastruktur Indonesia, of approximately 1,000 towers from Indonesian operator XL Axiata.

Australia is to fund new telecommunications towers in the Solomon Islands. The support for the towers was requested by the Solomon Islands government as part of its Covid-19 preparedness and response efforts.

The Competition and Consumer Authority of Botswana has announced its unconditional approval for the acquisition of 100% of Broadband Botswana Internet (BBi) by the Botswanan arm of South Africa’s Paratus Telecommunications Ltd.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) has signed up Nokia to be its main supplier for parts as the operator expands its 4G and 5G network across Indonesia.

Indian Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General Houlin Zhao signed a pact virtually to establish an area office and Innovation Centre of the United Nations telecom body in New Delhi.

Bahrain Telecommunication Company (Batelco) has signed an Open RAN (Radio Access Network) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), aimed at increasing momentum for the technology and its solutions in the region, alongside other leading Middle East Operators.

South African multinational mobile telecommunications company MTN Group and the Open RAN-focused vendor Rakuten Symphony sign an MoU to conduct 4G and 5G OpenRAN trials in South Africa, Nigeria, and Liberia based on Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP).

India's Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (RSBVL) and US company Sanmina Corporation have entered into an agreement to create a joint venture through an investment in Sanmina's existing Indian entity.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and industry group the GSMA, which represents mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, have signed an agreement to advance the mobile industry in India.

Beijing 2022’s Winter Olympic Games experience was improved with the use of Prevail’s cutting-edge digitalized ticketing. Spectators were able to access the stadiums in 1.5 seconds, with the digital ticketing system using Prevail’s PDA to verify ticket QR codes.

An executive revealed Cisco is replacing Chinese made equipment in Indian operator infrastructure while exploring the option of opening manufacturing plants in India.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) says it has selected mobile network testing solutions from test and measurement giant Rohde & Schwarz to assess and benchmark the performance, coverage and capacity of the country's mobile network operators.

Completing a very busy few days for Intelsat, the satellite operator has added deals in Brazil and Mali to the recently reported Ku-band-related agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Saudi Arabian operator Zain KSA has announced its launch of a 5G local area network (5G LAN). This, it says, makes it the first operator in the Middle East and North Africa to adopt the technology. It made the announcement during MWC 2022.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, the leading Indonesian service provider, has been looking back on a busy MWC 2022 in which, it says, it has succeeded in strengthening its collaborations with strategic partners, including Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia.

Driven by 4G phones as well as high pent-up demand in the fourth quarter of the year, Vietnam’s smartphone shipments grew by 11.9% to 15.9 million units in 2021.

Vodacom, the South Africa-based connectivity, digital and financial services company, has announced the launch of Africa's first Amazon Web Services (AWS) Outposts Innovation Lab in collaboration with AWS and Intel.

Due to a steady decline in cable TV subscriptions and drop in overall pay-TV average revenue per subscription (ARPS), the pay-TV services revenue in China is expected to grow at a sluggish compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.6% from USD 35.1bn in 2021 to USD 36.2bn in 2026.

Philippines telco PLDT and global satellite operator Telesat of Canada say they have successfully conducted the Philippines' first on-orbit testing of high-speed broadband connectivity with Telesat's Phase 1 low earth orbit (LEO) satellite.

O-RAN activity continues to ramp up. Now a group of Middle East operators has established the region’s first open RAN centralised test lab in collaboration with the industry group the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and technology company Intel.

Mexican quad-play (cable television, broadband internet, fixed telephony and mobile telephony) operator Megacable has come to an agreement with AT&T Mexico whereby it will to be able to use AT&T’s network.

High-altitude platform systems (HAPS) are again in the news after UK company Stratospheric Platforms Limited (SPL), a partner of German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom, successfully trialled pioneering technology that provides 5G network coverage from the stratosphere in Saudi Arabia.

Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernández, has announced plans, which are now apparently underway, to connect schools around the country to the internet.

ZTE Corporation’s Next-gen Cloud AI Home Security Camera Pro has landed the Best Connected Consumer Device award at the Global Mobile (GLOMO) Awards during Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2022 in Barcelona, Spain.

Indoor coverage is a challenge for telcos or system integrators: whether small or medium sites, the work of RF design, device tuning, antenna installation, cable laying, and various passive components must be set in the right correctly to be easily positioned for future maintenance, resulting in continued project maintenance.

Cambodian operator Smart Axiata saw a significant uptick in Fixed Wireless Access users during 2021, with the service attracting more than 100,000 registered users for that year.

MWC 2022 saw the signing of an agreement between Telecom Egypt (TE) and AFR-IX Telecom regarding the construction of a landing station in Egypt for the Medusa submarine cable system.

Türk Telekom has announced a partnership with fellow Turkish firm Odine with to shape the future with 5G and new generation technologies.

STL, ASOCS and VMware have announced what they describe as the launch of the industry's first end-to-end 5G enterprise solution to address the growing demand for private 5G enterprise connectivity for campus, industrial and venue applications.

Notwithstanding its concerns with corruption allegations and Ukraine, reported yesterday, Ericsson seems to have had a successful MWC in terms of agreements announced at the show. Deals involving Zain KSA, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and Ooredoo Qatar have all been highlighted by the telecoms giant during the event.