Indian wireless carrier Bharti Airtel announced it plans to raise INR 210 billion ($2.86 billion) via a sale of shares to existing shareholders as it builds a war chest to prepare for the launch of 5G services.

Israeli mobile network operator company Partner Communications, formerly known as Orange Israel, has made a bid for Marathon (018) Xfone, offering ILS187 million (USD58 million) for the business activity of its smaller rival.

Hungarian IT company 4iG has signed a preliminary agreement with the Minister for the Management of National Assets on gaining a majority stake in state-owned telecom infrastructure company Antenna Hungaria (AH) through a capital increase.

Top trade and technology bodies from the US and UK have told the Indian government to adopt the 5G standards that have been recommended by the 3GPP.

Ecuador’s regulator ARCOTEL (Agencia de Regulacion y Control de las Telecomunicaciones) has begun talks with the country’s two largest mobile operators about revising the terms of their licences after they expire.

Brazilian plans to encourage lower energy use amid an ongoing drought include a mandate to federal data centres to moderate their power use.

Indonesian digital telco Indosat Ooredoo launched a commercial 5G network in Jakarta.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended to the government to reduce/remove various levies imposed on satellite operators as well as measures like avoiding intermediaries in the segment to make services affordable.

Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts (Tribunal de Contas da Uniao, TCU) has approved the public notice for the proposed multi-band 5G spectrum auction.

Chinguitel, the telecommunications service provider in Nouakchott, Mauritania has announced the launch of its first LTE-based services - 4G services - in the country capital as well as six other regions after being awarded a 4G licence last September.

Botswana’s regulator has found operator BTC (Botswana Telecommunications Corporation) guilty of violating its licence terms by preventing a competitor from accessing high-speed data connectivity.

A second data centre is on the cards for Huawei in Mexico, according to reports from an online event marking two years since Huawei’s first Latin American data centre opened in Chile. The precise location of the planned site has not yet been revealed.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), is reportedly planning to open an India office fairly soon, although specific dates have not yet been given.

Indonesia’s XL Axiata has detailed its 5G service expansion strategy as it seeks to extend its offering outside of Java.

Singapore headquartered data centre infrastructure developer and operator Princeton Digital Group (PDG) plans to spend US$150 million on a new data centre in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.

Brazilian handset and PABX manufacturer Intelbras and American chipmaker Qualcomm have teamed up to produce 5G Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), using the second generation Qualcomm 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) platform with the Snapdragon X62 5G Modem-RF system and Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6 and 6E.

Aztelekom, the national communications operator of the Republic of Azerbaijan, has updated stations of the Alcatel 1000 S-12 type and switched to the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) technology meeting modern standards to ensure high-quality international and long-distance phone communications.

Chipmaker MediaTek emerged as the preferred chipset partner in India for smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the first half of 2021, according to a report by Techarc.

Airtel Niger has reportedly invested $5.7 million in deploying optical fibre from a major Nigerien city to the country’s border with Nigeria.

The Colombian ICT minister, Karen Abudinen, has announced the resumption of the installation of digital centres, or connection points, in rural areas of the country, a project that temporarily halted in 2020.

Cameroon’s state-owned CamTel has revealed that it will begin offering mobile and data services nationwide using the brand name Blue.

Digicel Fiji has announced plans to invest a further FJD13 million (US$6.2 million) in upgrading its 4G LTE infrastructure to meet the soaring demand resulting from the pandemic.

Chinese tech giant Baidu said its artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistant Xiaodu Technology has raised fresh capital at a valuation of USD 5.1 billion.

Chinese multinational electronics company Xiaomi Corporation is dropping the ‘Mi’ branding ten years after the company launched its first Mi smartphone, said local media reports.

ZTE Corporation announced that it has assisted China Mobile in launching the operator’s first NodeEngine Powered 5G integrated high-precision positioning commercial case in Guangzhou.

Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) has ordered local telecommunications company MTN Rwandacell PLC (MTN Rwanda) to solve all problems related to its call services.

Facebook has announced the launch of its Marketplace service (described as "a convenient destination where people can discover, buy and sell items from others in their local communities") to 37 countries and territories in sub-Saharan Africa.

India’s Optiemus Electronics, a diversified business group with over two decades of experience in the manufacturing, distribution and retail of global telecom brands across India, is partnering with contract manufacturer Wistron Corp of Taiwan to build products such as smartphones and laptops.

SoftBank Vision Fund’s first investment in an African start-up has been announced – and it’s a big one for fintech company OPay.

MTN Ghana’s CEO Selorm Adavehoh has expressed his hope that the operator will be able to launch 5G services as early as next year.

Last month, we reported that Angolan operator Unitel was preparing to launch a mobile money offering. Now, Unitel Money has gone live.