French firm Global Technologies has been tasked with reviving the Central African Republic’s defunct fixed-line provider SOCATEL (Societe Africaine de Telecommunications) by the country’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPT).

NuRAN Wireless Inc has announced that it has received its first purchase order from iSAT Africa for an initial commercial rural deployment in what is described only as a sub-Saharan African country.

Nokia announced it was selected to deliver IoT connectivity services for China Mobile’s IoT subsidiary, a move by the operator to ensure the delivery of connectivity and IoT services for customers in China and globally.

Iliad announced Polish operator Play’s shareholders accepted its public tender offer, with the operator also reorganising its board of directors to reflect the incoming owners, further completing the acquisition.

Western Union has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a minority stake in the fast-growing Saudi Digital Payments Company (known as stc pay), a fully owned subsidiary of the Saudi Telecom Company).

South Africa has a new MVNO – PnP Mobile – launched by the major retailer Pick n Pay.

Ooredoo Oman has selected Etiya to implement its digital Customer Relationship Management (CRM) transformation project.

Vodafone Idea sold its stake in infrastructure unit Indus Towers for INR37.6 billion ($507.2 million) as the debt-ridden operator looked to ease its financial burden.

Five firms have lodged bids through Chile’s Department of Telecommunications (Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones, Subtel) for the country’s upcoming public tender of 5G spectrum.

Data centre company Ascenty has announced the opening of the Chile 1 data centre in Santiago, the company's first unit to start operating outside Brazil.

Saudi Telecom Company has selected Comtech’s Location Technologies group to upgrade its location-based services.

It would be, to say the least, a reasonable excuse for delaying plans for telecommunications liberalisation, but the authorities in Ethiopia have reportedly insisted that the ongoing Tigray conflict won't hold up plans to auction telecommunications licences or a planned sale of part of Ethio Telecom.

The telecommunications sector remains one of the fastest growing areas of the Georgian economy, accounting for between 5% and 7% of GDP. There is still room for further growth, with penetration rates in the mobile and broadband segments relatively low by the standards of European benchmark countries.

Côte d’Ivoire has two competing fixed network operators though the sector is dominated by Orange Group’s local unit, Orange CI. The company is also the dominant player in the mobile market, followed by MTN and then Moov.

The island nation of Mauritius has long been a pioneer in the telecom sector. It was the first market in the greater Africa region to launch mobile telecom networks (in 1989), the first to provide a 3G service (2004), the first in the world to develop a nationwide WiMAX wireless broadband network (2005), and one of the first to launch IPTV services (2006).

News that China’s 34th satellite launch of the year went smoothly will come as little surprise. However, some mobile communications users on the ground may be pleased.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) continued its 5G deployment plan, granting state-owned operator VNPT-Vinaphone permission to conduct 5G trials.

Global technology services provider NTT Ltd has announced plans to adjust its business structure in India, bringing together three key business entities as a single organisation from 1 January 2021.

Indonesian operator Telkomsel invested $150 million into taxi-booking firm Gojek, a move to expand their services and accelerate digital transformation in the country.

Russia’s State Commission for Radio Frequencies will not hand out 5G licenses in the 3.4GHz to 3.6GHz bands for subsidiaries of Rostelecom and Megafon, a move to seemingly preserve the space for security agencies.

Togolese regulator ARCEP (Autorite de Regulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes) is cracking down on what it deems anti-competitive behaviour between two of the country’s operators.

Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society (DES) minister has confirmed that the merger between the country’s state operators TOT and CAT Telecom should be complete by 13th January 2021.

Philippines operator Globe Telecom announced it expanded its 5G network to 17 key cities in populous areas Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, as the operator continues its mass connectivity upgrade campaign.

Ericsson confirmed it won a five-year contract to supply gear for Czech operator CETIN’s 5G network, claiming the upgrade will deliver billions of euros to the country’s GDP.

South African fixed wireless access (FWA) operator Rain is apparently planning to switch off 4G network capabilities on its 5G packages in the near future.

Recent news from the Philippines and Nigeria indicates growing penetration of broadband services, though by no means all of it is being delivered by fixed lines.

Wi-Fi-supported technology that could be used to enable health monitoring in remote areas is being developed – and China is one of its target markets.

India’s second-biggest operator, Bharti Airtel, has started deploying 4G technology in bandwidth formerly used for 2G.

The Dominican Republican government cancelled an agreement with Huawei which would have seen the company’s technology used in areas such as telecommunications, airports and ports in the country.

There’s a new point of presence (PoP) in Brazil from Sparkle, a leading international service provider and global operator.

Paratus, a full-service pan-African telecommunications operator, has selected mobile network infrastructure solutions provider Star Solutions to supply its Sonata EPC core network platform for deployment in Namibia.