China’s state news agency Xinhua has reported that all of the nation’s administrative villages received broadband connectivity before the end of November 2021.

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) of the Bahamas has floated the possibility of introducing a third player to the market this year in its proposed Annual Plan for 2022.

Dubai Internet City has announced a deal with Khazna Data Centres to establish two state-of-the-art facilities to further support enterprises of all sizes by enabling the integration of technology across all business functions.

Bahrain-based telecom services company Batelco recently debuted its eCommerce platform, Batelco eSuite, in a move to help merchants create online stores in a few steps.

Multinational operator Airtel Africa has confirmed what is referred to as the first closing of the transaction to sell its telecoms tower assets in Tanzania for some $176.1 million.

The wait for 5G rollout and expansion of 4G capacity in South Africa may now go on even longer thanks to efforts by operator Telkom to delay the spectrum auction due to happen in March.

The Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) and two of the country’s operators, Airtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya, have joined in the controversy over a case involving mobile termination rates (MTR) – the charges levied by a mobile service provider on other telecommunications service providers for terminating calls in its network.

Bharti Airtel has decided not to restructure its business after determining that its current structure is “optimal for leveraging” reforms announced by India’s government in September 2021.

IDB Invest, a member of the IDB Group, participated in a guaranteed line of up to COP625,000 million (GBP 113 million) for the benefit of Tigo Colombia, a subsidiary of Millicom.

The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) under the Indian communications ministry has released a report 'Code of Practice for Securing Consumer Internet of Things (IoT)'.

China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd (China Mobile) will buy back up to $12.6 billion worth of its Hong Kong-listed shares on the market, as the company prepares for its 48.7 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) listing in Shanghai on Wednesday, China’s biggest public share offering in a decade.

The Ghana Smart Cities Project has been given an official go-ahead after last year’s provisional authorization.

North Macedonia’s Mtel – which currently offers satellite TV services – has announced plans to begin a mobile offering in spring 2022.

Following a competitive auction process, Latvian fixed broadband operator Tet is acquiring 100% of Telia’s local B2B unit Telia Latvija for EUR10.75 million (US$12.1 million).

Montenegrin regulator EKIP (Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services) confirmed that the country’s latest round of spectrum auctions saw 220MHz of frequencies sold.

Indian multinational telecommunications services company Bharti Airtel and Hughes Communications India Pvt Ltd (HCIPL), a majority-owned subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems LLC, a player in satellite and multi-transport technologies and networks announced the formation of a joint venture to provide satellite broadband services in India.

Qatar’s telecoms company Ooredoo and Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd has completed the $6 billion merger of their Indonesian telecom businesses after securing all shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Telkom, a South African wireline and wireless telecommunications provider, announced that Telkom Kenya has launched an app for its mobile money product, T-Kash.

The new year has seen another multi-country roaming agreement come into effect as residents of Andean Community countries see roaming charges abolished.

Although Nigeria’s NIN enrolments are now said to have reached 71 million, the country’s government evidently feels not enough Nigerians have linked their National Identification Number (NIN) to their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) and has approved a further extension of the deadline for the exercise to 31 March this year.

Latvia’s Public Utilities Commission (Sabiedrisko Pakalpojumu Regulesanas Komisija / SPRK) has named the winning bidders in its recent auctions for technology neutral spectrum licences in the 700MHz band.

El Salvador’s competition watchdog has ruled that the sale of Telefonica’s Movistar and Telefonica Multiservicios units to General International Telecom Limited requires no antitrust authorisation.

Nokia is extending its partnership with Tele2 to deploy 5G RAN in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in a long-term deal.

Swiatlowod Inwesticje (trading under the FiberCo brand), the provider of telecommunication services based in Warsaw, Poland, has started a cooperation with Polsat Plus Group.

Bite Group, a telecommunications and media group in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, announced that business subscribers for its Bite Latvia ICT services grew by 14% in 2021. It also plans to invest more than 70 million euros in the next three years, building several hundred 5G base stations in Riga and major Latvian cities.

ZTE Corporation has helped Ningxia Cable TV Network successfully upgrade its IP transport network, by upgrading the existing ZTE’s core router ZXR10 T8000 single device to cluster.

Vodafone has announced the launch of services by its new Oman operation – the third operator in the sultanate. Vodafone Oman launched late last week.

Chinese fibre provider Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable (YOFC) is entering the broadband market in four Peruvian regions. It will use digital enablement expert Alepo’s BSS/OSS solution.

It may come as little surprise to most observers that, having tried to offload its Myanmar mobile communications business, Telenor now aims to sell its 51 percent stake in Wave Money, one of Myanmar’s biggest mobile payment services.

The demand for data-based services in the Pacific region is growing, aligning with similar trends around the world. In particular, the demand for mobile broadband is increasing due to mobile services being the primary and most wide-spread source for internet access across the region.