Although Bolivia had enjoyed strong economic growth prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, GDP remains among the lowest in South America.

In common with several other mid-sized countries in the region, Ecuador has a small telecom market dominated by the mobile sector.

Honduras is among the poorest countries in Central America and has long been plagued by an unstable political framework which has rendered telecom sector reform difficult.

Bahrain Telecommunication Company (Batelco) reported an increase of 5% in net profits to BD37.5 million ($99.5 million) for H1 2021.

MyT Mobile, Mauritius Telecom (MT)'s mobile network, has launched the 5G services in the country one month after it obtained a 5G license for mobile telephony.

Slovenian provider of telecommunications services Telekom Slovenije is the only telecom operator participating in the European project 5G-IANA (Intelligent Automotive Network Applications).

United Arab Emirates (UAE) telecoms group Emirates Telecommunication Group Company (Etisalat) has recorded a 3.9% rise in first-half net profit after federal royalties to AED4.7 billion (USD1.28 billion).

International service provider Sparkle has announced a collaboration with Google, among a number of other companies, to build the Blue and Raman submarine cable systems. Blue will connect Italy, France, Greece and Israel, while Raman will connect Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Oman and India.

5G to drive mobile services market in China through 2026, said a study. The total mobile service revenues in China are poised to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.1% from US$131.3bn in 2021 to US$152.7bn in 2026.

Tata Sons subsidiary Panatone Finvest Ltd has proposed to buy a 43.3% stake in Tejas Networks, a global optical, broadband, and data networking products company, for around INR 1,850 crore (USD 249 million) in a multi-step deal.

Qatari multinational telecommunications company Ooredoo has posted strong financial results for the first half (H1) of 2021, maintaining its growth momentum despite operational challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A1 Bulgaria, the GSM mobile phone operator in the country, has signed a new contract for the Bulgarian market together with the specialist in Conversational AI (CAI) for the enterprise Artificial Solutions and its partner Microsoft.

Silkbank, a leading commercial and Islamic bank in Pakistan, has gone live with digital banking platform Temenos Infinity from banking software company Temenos.

A net profit of $142 million in the recent quarter, almost doubling profit year-on-year, inspired a fairly positive report from Airtel Africa, the pan-African business of Indian telecoms giant Airtel.

The European Commission has granted conditional approval for Orange Group to acquire a 54% controlling stake in Telekom Romania Communications (TKR).

Over 1,300 rural sites will gain access to connectivity in Peru as part of Peru's national programme to bridge the digital divide, according to the two signatories of a new satellite backhaul deal.

Globe Telecom, a provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines, announced that it had upgraded its third-generation (3G) network in 12 provinces to 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) with the completion and modernisation of several sites.

Serbian state-owned telecommunications operator Telekom Srbija is in talks to acquire Posta Net, the cable TV and internet business of another government-owned entity, Posta Srbija.

Ukrainian telecommunications company Kyivstar said that it covered an area with around 1.2 million residents with its LTE network in January-June 2021.

Libya's state-owned operator Hatif Libya has signed an agreement to improve its fibre-optic network with US-based company Infinera. Hatif Libya is a subsidiary of the Libyan Telecommunication Holding Company (LPTIC).

Neptune Communications has partnered with Parallel Wireless to deliver the Caribbean’s first O-RAN compliant 4G LTE solution in Barbados.

The Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) has opened a public consultation inviting stakeholders to provide feedback on its proposals for 5G spectrum bands.

Driven by a continuous rise in high fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) subscriptions and FTTH average revenue per user (ARPU), China’s fixed broadband service revenue is poised to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6% between 2021 and 2026, said a study.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco published an order that authorises the privatisation of the 90% participation that the state holds in the Multitel's share capital, through a public tender.

Brazilian internet service provider (ISP) Unifique Telecomunicações said it raised BRL818 million ($158 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) after pricing its shares at BRL8.60 each, not far from the bottom end of the indicative range.

Armenian operator Ucom announced that it has launched Wi-Fi as a Service (WiFiaaS) for its business customers, enabling them to benefit from more stable Wi-Fi coverage and secure, high-quality connections.

The Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA), a government statutory agency, has launched a basic fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband package with a minimum connection speed of 100Mbps.

Mumbai will be the first part of India to benefit from a major new data centre development agreement.

Two Nigerian communications industry associations have backed a proposed move by the country’s regulator towards collocation and infrastructure sharing.

International (and pan-African) operator Orange and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH have inaugurated a new Orange Digital Centre in Bamako.

MTN South Africa is working to expand its 5G coverage and has deployed 5G towers in Polokwane in Limpopo and Emalahleni (Witbank) in Mpumalanga. Despite uncertainty about the allocation of new spectrum, it has deployed 5G towers, reports Tech Central.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) approved a listing by China Telecom on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange six months after the company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).