Arcep – l'Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques, des postes et de la distribution de la presse, aka the French telecoms regulator – has launched a public consultation linked to a number of French overseas territories.

Slovenia’s telecoms regulator AKOS has slammed the government’s sudden decision to fold the organisation into a larger watchdog.

Six Malaysian operators have been issued fines collectively totalling MYR700,000 ($168,500) for neglecting to authenticate new prepaid subscribers during 2019.

After more than a decade of civil war which destroyed much of its infrastructure, Liberia became a prime example of an almost entirely wireless telecommunications market.

The telecom market in Bhutan is dominated by the mobile sector, which accounts for the vast majority of voice and data connections. This is partly the result of poor fixed-line infrastructure, and topographic issues which has rendered it easier to deliver services based on mobile infrastructure.

Tunisia has one of the most sophisticated telecom infrastructures in North Africa. Penetration rates for mobile and internet services are among the highest in the region.

Sudan makes up the northern part of a country which in 2011 was separated to form the new state of South Sudan. Three quarters of the former population live in the north, where mobile market penetration is far higher.

Namibia was slow to introduce competition in the mobile market, with a second operator not licensed until 2006.

Recent announcements from Oman and Nigeria underline the continuing growth of data centres across multiple regions outside their traditional homes in the US and Europe.

Telekom Slovenije  has begun rolling out 5G technology for mobile phone users, Slovenia's biggest telecom operator said earlier this week.

Further proof of the relevance of the Internet of Things (IoT) to sustainability in the developing world comes with the announcement that Telenor Connexion is to partner with Ericsson on a water project in East Africa.

Viettel Business Solutions will provide NOW Corp with ICT products and services in the Philippines as the latter’s mobile subsidiary NOW Telecom looks to establish itself as the market’s fourth major operator.

Montenegro’s regulator EKIP (Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services) is planning to auction 5G-capable spectrum in Q4 2021.

Following a public tender, Mauritania’s Autorité de Régulation (ARE) has finally found bidders for the country’s three available provisional 4G licences.

Algeria’s regulator has issued fines to the country’s three mobile providers for failing to improve their 4G/LTE coverage.

Mobile network operator Vodafone Czech Republic has launched its non-standalone (NSA) 5G network in a number of major cities throughout the country.

Batelco has announced that it has successfully activated 5G coverage across Bahrain.

Peruvian regulator Osiptel (Organismo Supervisor de Inversion Privada en Telecommuniciones) has ordered the local unit of Movistar to implement measures to let subscribers manage their subscriptions more easily.

Following last week’s news that India may be planning to launch its own app store as an alternative to the market-dominating Apple and Google offerings, a spat has been reported between Google and a number of Indian start-up app developers.

MTN Zambia has partnered with ZTE to construct a cross-border optical transmission network backbone in Zambia.

Orange is expanding its fibre networks in two of its markets – Poland and Cote d’Ivoire.

Brazilian regulator Anatel has cleared operators with spectrum holdings in the 850MHz band to extend their rights up until 29th November 2028.

Ukraine is laying the foundations for the advent of 5G, with the country’s Cabinet of Ministers approving a plan aimed to boosting mobile quality within the next two years.

BT Group has closed the sale of its Latin American units and assets to CIH Telecommunications Americas.

A Philippines-based fibre-focused firm may soon be able to boast the country’s biggest-ever initial public offering.

Huawei has announced a new next-gen data storage solution, OneStorage, to provide on-demand storage resources and automatic data O&M management, enabling both operators and enterprises to move towards all-scenario intelligence and multi-cloud convergence.

The Czech Telecommunication Office (CTU) has confirmed that seven interested parties are seeking to bid in the Czech Republic’s upcoming sale of 700MHz and 3400MHz-3600MHz 5G-ready spectrum.

We’ve already reported on the growing number of made-in-India apps over recent months. If local news reports prove correct we may soon be reporting on a made-in-India app store.

Huawei is set to deploy over 2000 telecom sites in rural locations across Ghana.

A number of recent reports have underlined the difficulty of making money with streaming services in the African market – even for a dominant market player like Netflix. Netflix is now trying out at a low-priced mobile-only service.