Saudi Telecom Company (STC), the provider of telecommunications services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said that its internet-services unit Arabian Internet and Communications Services Company is seeking to raise as much as 3.62 billion riyals (USD 966 million) from an initial public offering (IPO) in Riyadh.

Indian telecom sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that special mobile number portability (MNP) specific tariffs are discriminatory and a violation of current rules.

Telecom operators in Rwanda will be implementing new directives for SIM card registration in a move Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) said will help curb fraud.

Russian communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has blocked six providers of virtual proxy networks (VPNs), which people can use to circumvent government restrictions on the Internet.

Toko Wireless (Tonga) and WanTok Networks (Vanuatu) have announced the formation of WanTok Pacific Corporation, a company that will launch a new local mobile operator and, it says, provide a full suite of additional telecom services.

The UAE has a strong mobile market, dominated by Etisalat and du. Both are majority-owned by the government. In a bid to attract additional foreign investment, it was resolved in early 2021 that the stake held by foreigners in the two companies could be increased.

Jordan’s government has focussed on the use of ICT in a range of sectors, aimed at transforming the relatively small economy through the use of digital services.

Iraq continues to face a number of political and economic challenges, though increasing civil stability has made it easier for mobile and fixed-line operators to rebuild telecom services and infrastructure damaged during the last few years.

The Dominican Republic’s telecom sector continued its solid though unspectacular form throughout 2020 and into 2021, shrugging off the economic turmoil unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic to maintain a decade-long run of low but positive growth across all areas of the market.

India's telecom operator Bharti Airtel said that it has successfully demonstrated cloud gaming in the country over a 5G network.

Philippines telecommunications giant PLDT is doubling its existing total network capacity from 55 terabits per second to 92 Tbps by the end of 2021. That is almost more than triple from its capacity last year which was only at 30 Tbps.

The Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) has floated a tender for an international mobile telecommunications spectrum (IMT) licence for the provision of mobile broadband wireless access services.

Digital infrastructure products provider Vertiv announced a distribution agreement with the US IT services company Ingram Micro covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) distribution markets.

Data centre development in India’s largest city Mumbai looks like enjoying an enormous boost after some recently announced plans from major players in the data centre industry.

After six weeks during which its government has faced increased criticism, Tanzania has finally reduced the amount of its controversial mobile money transaction levy – by 30 percent.

Altan Redes, the consortium tasked with deploying Mexico's 4.5G shared network – called Red Compartida – has announced that it has secured a $50 million loan from shareholders.

Despite the harsh impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country’s population and economy, Colombia’s telecom sector had a solid year thanks to positive performances in the fixed-line broadband, mobile broadband, and mobile voice and data markets.

Cellulant has entered into a five-year partnership with Senegal-based Gainde 2000 to offer an end-to-end Pan-African technology infrastructure and payments solutions for trade, revenue & tax collection for governments and multinational companies.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has won the backing of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for its 2019 decision to increase the licence renewal fees of mobile operators Jazz and Telenor Pakistan.

Paraguay’s regulator Conatel (Consejo Nacional de Telecomunicaciones) has agreed to renew Claro and Tigo’s 4G AWS licences.

The Russian telecom market is the largest in Europe, supported by a population approaching 147 million.

Romania’s telecom market has undergone several significant changes in recent years.

Although Croatia’s telecom market is dominated by the incumbent telco Hrvatski Telekom and the local units of United Group and Telekom Austria, there is effective competition from a number of smaller operators.

India’s second-largest wireless telco Bharti Airtel's CAPEX to increase to about US$5 billion in FY 2022 from $4.6 billion in FY 2021, global rating agency Fitch said.

The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in Saudi Arabia announced the launch of the local roaming service, which aims mainly to maintain network service in villages and deserts covered by telecom services in all regions of the Kingdom.

TIM Brasil and suppliers Ericsson and MediaTek conducted the first pilot tests in the Brazilian city of Itajuba, in the state of Minas Gerais, with carrier aggregation (CA) in 5G standalone architecture.

Globe Telecom, a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines announced that it has signed for financing worth PHP13 billion (USD261.8 million) with the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co (PHP10 billion) and the Bank of the Philippine Islands (PHP3 billion).

Iran’s incoming Minister of ICT Isa Zarepour has indicated that the country’s long-delayed National Information Network (NIN) project should be completed by 2025.

The slow process to open up Ethiopia’s telecom market was completed with the licensing of the Safaricom-led Global Partnership for Ethiopia consortium.

Montenegro has a small telecom market supported by a population of only 623,000. Fixed broadband services are available via a variety of technology platforms, though fibre is the dominant platform, accounting for almost 40% of connections.

Brazil has one of the largest mobile markets in Latin America due to the sheer size of its population.

Cambodia’s mobile-dominated telecoms sector spent much of 2020 battling two major challenges: the global pandemic, and the government’s retraction of trial licenses for the rollout of 5G.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a relatively minor impact on the Philippine’s telecom sector in 2020. Subscriber numbers fell in some areas, but this was offset by strong growth in mobile data and broadband usage since a significant proportion of the population transitioned to working or studying from home.