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.

India's rural teledensity jumps from 44% in March 2014 to 59% in September 2021, said a statement from the Ministry of Communications.

Slovak operators Swan and Swan Mobile (4ka) merged to create a full-fledged telecommunications operator with an offer of convergent, fixed, and mobile services.

Croatian telecommunications company Hrvatski Telekom (HT) has implemented free WiFi internet in the Town of Obrovac and the municipalities of Konavle and Perusic, which provides access to the internet in public locations for citizens and visitors.

Argentina’s ongoing problem with hyperinflation continues to distort the telecom market’s performance, which shows strong growth in revenue but only modest gains in subscriber numbers each year.

Although El Salvador is the smallest country in central America geographically, it has the fourth largest economy in the region. Economic potential is limited by the relatively small population, while the country’s telecom sector has been restricted by poor infrastructure and unequal income distribution.

India has constituted a Technology Innovation Group (TIG) to prepare a manufacturing and services ecosystem to capitalise on Sixth Generation or 6G opportunity in the telecom sector.

Azerbaijan state-owned operator AzinTelecom will merge with the Data Processing Center (DPC), which operates under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan (MDDT).

Mobile number portability (MNP) is expected to start in Uruguay 12 January 2022, the national regulator Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones (URSEC) said in a press note.

Sri Lanka’s fixed-line telephony market was one of the very few in the world to experience a significant upsurge in subscriptions in 2020. While the country suffers from a relatively poor fixed-line infrastructure and a correspondingly strong mobile sector, demand for traditional phone services increased 14% in 2020.

Tanzania’s telecom sector enjoys effective competition, particularly in the mobile segment. There remains considerable movement within it, with Smart having stopped services in late 2019 and Tigo Tanzania having completed its merger with Zantel. Tigo Tanzania in April 2021 was sold by its parent company MIC as it sought to focus on its operations in Latin America.

World Mobile, the first mobile network built on blockchain and run by the people, partners with Altaeros, developers of the world’s first autonomous aerostats, to connect the unconnected.

China is planning to establish large clusters of data centers outside the main population centers, to provide digital infrastructure without overloading power grids.

The shareholders of PT Indosat Tbk (Indosat Ooredoo) have approved the Indonesian operator's merger with rival Tri, which is also known as Hutchison 3 Indonesia.

Following elections held in August 2021, Zambia's new government immediately established a Ministry of Technology and Science to promote the use of ICT in developing economic growth and social inclusion. This focus on ICT, and on telecoms in particular, has been central to government strategies for some years.

Until late 2020, Lesotho’s telecom regulator maintained a market duopoly between the privatised national operator, Econet Telecom Lesotho (ETL), which is focussed on fixed-line services, and Vodacom Lesotho, which dominates the mobile sector.

Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel and IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have joined hands to build a 5G-based remote working technology using robotics. Both the companies are currently running the trials in Airtel's 5G lab at Manesar, in the state of Haryana.

CMLink, China Mobile's subsidiary in Canada, will cease operation in Canada due to fears expressed by the federal government.

Chinese technology firm Xiaomi has unveiled its new flagship Xiaomi 12 smartphone in China.

Angola’s telecom sector in recent years has benefited from political stability, which has encouraged foreign investment in the sector. The government and regulator have also set in train mechanisms to open up the telecom sector to new competitors, with Africell having secured a universal licence and in so doing becoming the country’s fourth MNO.

Ghana’s telecom market has undergone several changes in recent years, following the privatisation of the incumbent telco Ghana Telecom and its rebranding as Vodafone Ghana. Two of the key players merged to form AirtelTigo in 2017, though in mid-2020 the parent companies of the operator decided to exit the market. The sale and transfer of AirtelTigo to the state was completed in November 2021.