Airtel Africa has launched SmartCash Payment Service Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary, to provide secure and reliable financial services across Nigeria.

China Mobile-backed Pakistani operator Zong has partnered with ZTE to implement a dual-band (1800MHz and 2100MHz) FDD Massive MIMO upgrade on its 4G network.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has told leading operator Grameenphone that it must stop selling new SIMs in the latest escalation of an ongoing dispute over quality of service.

Chilean operator Entel claims to have extended its 5G coverage to all regions in the country, with the deployment currently 83% complete.

Indian telecoms mogul Mukesh Ambani has left the role of director at Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Millicom deepened its hold in Latin America by taking full ownership of Tigo Panama, as part of wider plans to spread its operations in the country.

Brazil may be about to join the rush to standardise smartphone chargers. The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), the Brazilian telecom regulator, has proposed making USB-C chargers mandatory for all smartphones sold in the country.

The latest nation looking to abandon 3G seems to be Tunisia, with an announcement that the state-owned incumbent Tunisie Telecom wants to get rid of 3G to focus on 4G.

Malaysia’s communications minister has indicated that an announcement will be made by next week regarding the sale of a 70% equity stake in Digital Nasional Berhad.

Togolese regulator ARCEP (Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts) has imposed a fine on operator Togocom for “serious breaches of its [service] obligation.”

Cash-strapped Zambian state-run telecoms firm Zamtel, which provides a range of services including landline, mobile, FttH and ADSL, is reportedly for sale, though this has been denied by at least one senior government figure.

The Philippines’ bureaucracy-busting Anti Red Tape Authority (ARTA) appears to have had second thoughts on a previous ruling in which it approved a spectrum holding to be issued to NOW Telecom.

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has laid out the rules for building captive non-public networks (CNPNs) – or private 5G networks.

Philippines operator PLDT will switch on the United States-Transpacific Jupiter cable system next month, boosting its extensive fibre network.

Mexican regulator IFT (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones / Federal Telecommunications Institute) has cleared a financing deal that will see ALTAN Redes (Red Compartida) become a public-private partnership funded by the Mexican Development Bank.

China’s newest licensed operator China Broadnet has launched a 5G mobile offering.

Mexican conglomerate Alfa has proposed the spin-off of its entire stake in operator Axtel, a move it claimed will unlock the underlying value of the group.

India’s controversial new cybersecurity rules may still be going ahead, but there has been a slight change of plan. There’s been an extension of almost 60 days to the date on which the legal requirement to report security breaches and keep customer information comes into force.

MTN Nigeria, the country’s leading operator and the leading MTN operator by subscriber numbers, has taken 18 Nigerian banks to court over the alleged unauthorised transfer of ₦22.3 billion ($53.7 million) from an account owned by its recently-licensed mobile money Payment Service Bank (PSB)

Liberty Latin America (LLA) has received regulatory approval to proceed with its US$200 million acquisition of America Movil unit Claro Panama, a move that forms an entity with over half of the market share in the country.

Zimbabwe’s state-owned fixed line and broadband operator TelOne has released a statement saying that it is faced with what it calls “acute viability challenges”.

A number of spectrum announcements have been made in recent days that could further help India’s operators’ ongoing rollout plans – if they are put into effect.

The Kenyan Communications Authority (KCA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei to spur the growth of 5G in the country.  

MTN Ghana has reportedly put back a pilot of its 5G services this year due to the lack of licenses from authorities.

Ericsson was chosen by Orange Egypt to supply antenna products for the building of the operator’s 2,600MHz network, a move for the operator to proceed with its extensive rollout plan.

This week has seen the launch of a government-supported innovation to attract investors to Cameroon – in the form of SME-centric apps.

IT and networks solutions provider Cisco followed other western firms in exiting Russia and Belarus in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

Two telecommunications satellites – one Indian and one Malaysian – have been successfully placed into geostationary orbit by the Ariane 5 launcher, operated by satellite launch company Arianespace.

Approved Apple repair centres in Russia are reportedly struggling to find legit parts to carry out repairs for devices after the nation was sanctioned by a raft of nations after beginning the invasion of Ukraine.

Vodafone Romania CEO Achilleas Kanaris stated the company’s parent has no plans to exit the market as a repositioning of the unit is commencing.

As the late July date for India’s 5G auctions approaches, operators will have to think carefully about where the money is coming from for the additional spectrum. However, it looks like Vodafone Idea (Vi) is already positioning itself financially, both to bid and to invest in its network,

Ukrtelecom deleted software to prevent Russia from taking control of Ukraine’s internet and phone services, its chief executive officer Yuriy Kurmaz told Bloomberg.

State-owned operator Copaco announced a cash injection of US$10 million this year to expand mobile coverage and its fibre optics network in Paraguay.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has refused to sign a controversial ICT Practitioners Bill into law.

The debt issues surrounding South African operator cell C are no closer to resolution, although the debtors’ meeting that we reported had been

There’s been some good news for telecoms giant Ericsson after four of its former executives were acquitted in Sweden early this week on charges of bribing high-ranking Djibouti officials.

Debt-laden Gambian operator Comium received demands for a full refund from Monty Mobile, the company that swooped in with a cash injection to prevent the operator from shuttering last year.  

Elisa Estonia has confirmed the launch for fixed wireless access 5G services over its recently obtained 3.5GHz spectrum.

Etisalat UAE, the telecoms pillar of e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group), has announced the successful deployment and testing of mobile network slicing through 5G in collaboration with Huawei.

South African operator Cell C is apparently in talks with its infrastructure partners to deploy 5G on a launch date yet to be disclosed. Cell C secured 10MHz in the 3500MHz band for ZAR288 million (about US$18.2 million) in March after South Africa’s long-awaited broadband spectrum auction

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced the establishment of a new public-private partnership focused on using 5G to encourage economic growth across several industry verticals.

Local press reports in Nigeria are full of dire warnings about online retail superbrand Amazon’s plans for growth and how it could affect home-grown online retail. According to recently unearthed documents the company is apparently set to roll out in Nigeria in April 2023.

Following India’s upcoming spectrum auctions, 5G rollouts are expected across August and September.

Zimbabwe is the latest African country planning to set to launch its first satellite into orbit. Next month, or possibly in August, ZimSat-1, a nanosatellite, will be launched from the Japanese KIBO Module – Japan's science module for the International Space Station (ISS).

Payments business Cellulant Zambia has announced a digital payment partnership with five leading Zambian water utility companies; Nkana Water, Kafubu Water, Mulonga Water, Chambeshi Water and Western Water.

Axiata and Telenor have deferred the deadline for the proposed merger of their Malaysian units, Celcom and Digi.

There’s good news for telecommunications companies in, or serving, India with the announcement by the Department of Telecommunications of additions to the area of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme relevant to telecoms and networking.

MTC has settled a longstanding dispute with the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) over a series of fees imposed by the regulator between March 2016 and June 2018.

Hungary’s Magyar Telekom has stated that its 3G network “will no longer be available anywhere from 1 July”, with phased shutdowns already in effect.

Namibian operator MTC has called for the country’s government to end its ongoing moratorium on the deployment of 5G networks as it lays the foundation for its own fifth generation network.