Telenor Myanmar has apparently lost more than six million customers in the third quarter of this year. However, as parent company Telenor of Norway points out in its recent third quarter results summary, much of this is related to SIM deactivation.

Airtel Lanka, a Sri Lankan operator and subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, this week announced that it has been awarded 4G spectrum in the 850MHz band.

Infinera, Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and Telefónica Peru are collaborating to commercially deploy a TIP-developed Disaggregated Cell Site Gateway (DCSG) solution using Infinera’s DRX-30 hardware and Converged Network Operating System (CNOS).

Kenya’s National Assembly has agreed to allow mobile money services as an accepted form of payment by gaming operators.

The Liberia Telecommunications Authority slapped Orange Liberia and Lonestar Cell-MTN with fines amounting to more than $4 million, punishing the operators for illegally raising floor prices on voice and data tariffs.

Saudi Arabia has launched a national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. This initiative, widely reported in both the regional and international press, aims to attract $20 billion in foreign and local investments by 2030 and to make the country a global leader in the AI field.

Indonesian operator Telkomsel announced an IDR10.3 trillion ($701 million) deal to sell 6,050 towers to tower company PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi (Mitratel), a deal to support its focus on main parts of the business.

Together with Sequoia Capital India and Flourish Ventures, Veon has become the first strategic corporate investor in Bangladesh’s ShopUp, a full-stack B2B commerce platform for small businesses.

Chad’s regulator ARCEP (L’Autorite de Regulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes,) has ordered parity between on-net and off-net tariffs.

Globe Telecom announced it completed the removal of consumer 3G SIM cards across its retail and distribution chains, a move in line with a goal to migrate customers to 4G and 5G services.

Zambian operator Zamtel announced it switched on 744 towers to vastly expand its network coverage, with its chief executive claiming the move repositioned the operator to have the largest coverage in Zambia.

Saudi Arabia watchdog the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) revealed it is on track to becoming a 5G regulator, while unveiling a strategy to leverage multiple facets of communications and technologies to spur the telecoms sector.

Reliance Jio partnered with Qualcomm to develop open and virtualised 5G network infrastructure, to fast-track the development and rollout of the next-generation technology, and services based on it in India.

Infinera and Seaborn Networks have launched new submarine network services on Seaborn’s AMX-1 submarine network segment connecting the U.S. and Brazil.

Filipino mobile provider Smart has selected Nokia to launch IoT services across the archipelago.

Swedish vendor Ericsson beat rivals to supply equipment for Czech operator CETIN’s 5G network, Reuters reported.

Brazil’s Vivo has selected Ribbon’s Session Border Controller to offer enhanced VoIP access and peering services.

Airtel Zambia signed up to Ericsson’s e-waste programme to minimise the operator's environmental impact, with the focus on the disposal of decommissioned gear in Zambia.

A letter from the GSM Association (GSMA), apparently sent to India’s secretary for telecommunications in September but only being widely reported recently, revisits the ongoing challenges in rolling out telecommunications infrastructure in India.

Zain Group will transfer management of state-owned operator Touch to the Lebanese government by the end of this month, reported Lebanon’s official National News Agency.

Comtech EF Data Corp, a supplier of communications equipment with a focus on satellite bandwidth efficiency and link optimisation, has announced that it has received a $1 million order for satellite ground station equipment from what it describes as the largest telecommunications company in Africa.

Telecom Vanuatu Limited (TVL), a provider of landline, GSM, internet, and 4G+ to the island country of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean, has begun modernising its network using solutions by digital enablement firm Alepo.

Pakistan’s telecom market has had to transition from a regulated state-owned monopoly to a deregulated competitive structure. The transition, and the development of the telecom sector generally, has been greatly aided by foreign investment.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) restored social media app TikTok, 10 days after the authority banned the app for what it deemed as “unlawful” content, however, it warned the app could be banned permanently if guidelines are not followed.

Global cloud communications company Infobip has been appointed by Ubongo, a leading African edutainment company, to implement a WhatsApp channel with its latest offering Answers.

The debate over India’s 5G future continues. India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has reportedly asked the government to free up 3000 MHz in the 26GHz-28GHz band for 5G. Meanwhile, operator Reliance Jio has indicated its support for a home-grown 5G standard.

Philippines operator Globe Telecom made good on a pledge to upgrade its broadband network, stating 40% of targeted customers have been migrated to higher speed networks for free.

Global mobile satellite communications company Inmarsat and radio and satellite communications solutions provider Cobham SATCOM have been awarded a contract to connect 732 fishing vessels active in the Maldives Economic Exclusion Zone to Inmarsat’s Fleet One maritime broadband services.

Following a referendum, oil-rich South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 and became an independent nation. Having been deprived of investment for decades, it inherited one of the least developed telecommunications and internet markets in the world, while other infrastructure is also lamentably poor.