Orange Liberia and ZTE said on Thursday they have successfully completed a project to build new base station sites in rural areas across the country that they say significantly enhances network coverage in those areas.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has set 14 September 2024 as the final registration date for subscriber identification module (SIM) subscribers, just under four years since the country’s SIM registration procedure began.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, and tech giant Microsoft have signed a strategic agreement to identify and enhance investment opportunities in digital transformation across Latin America and the Caribbean.

There’s been a flurry of African news from Starlink – satellite communications company SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet service – in recent days, culminating with this week’s announcement that Botswana has granted an operating licence to the service.

Bayobab Kenya, part of Bayobab Group, the digital infrastructure business arm of MTN Group, announced on Tuesday the completion of a terrestrial fibre network connecting Mombasa to Uganda via the border cities of Malaba and Busia.

iColo, which designs, builds, and operates state of- the-art carrier-neutral data centres in Kenya and Mozambique, has announced a significant expansion of its renewable energy initiatives with the installation of solar panels at its facilities in Kenya.

Abu Dhabi-based Marlan Space, a new space company affiliated with International Holding Company (IHC), a global diversified conglomerate, also based in Abu Dhabi, has established a joint venture with US-headquartered space infrastructure company Loft Orbital to form Orbitworks, the Middle East’s first private space infrastructure company.

Chile may soon become the first country in the Americas to implement an initiative mandating a universal charger for electronic devices.

Operator Claro Argentina and vendor Nokia have signed what is described as a comprehensive 5G deal through which Nokia will deploy 5G infrastructure across the country for Claro.

Kenyan telco Safaricom has reportedly written a letter to the Communications Authority of Kenya complaining that LEO satellite operator Starlink is a threat to the telecoms market and should be required to partner with local operators rather than compete with them.

Ericsson has announced a new partnership with operator e& Egypt that marks what is described as a ‘significant milestone in advancing ICT infrastructure in Egypt and the wider region’.

After a number of delays, the Colombian government’s plans to connect schools in isolated areas via Wi-Fi is apparently resuming.

There’s a new MVNO about to enter the market in Brazil after Unifique received authorisation from regulator Anatel to launch in most of the country.

Nokia has announced that it is further strengthening its partnership with 4G and 5G network-as-a-service (NaaS) operator Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC) by building a 5G mobile core network.

Airtel Nigeria says it has successfully set up a satellite dish in Lagos for Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO satellite broadband service, which it says will be used to bring high-speed internet to remote areas.

Tech Mahindra announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud to tap into the technology giant’s generative AI products to digitally transform its parent company’s various industrial units.

The question of whether over-the-top (OTT) services need to pay for the infrastructure they use has come up again – this time in South Africa, where an industry organisation wants digital content and service providers to help pay for the roll out and upgrade of network infrastructure .

A second big data centre story this month has come from the Democratic Republic of Congo as it inaugurates a US$30 million data centre from Raxio Group, said to be Africa’s leading carrier-neutral Tier III data centre operator.

Ethio Telecom partnered with financial powerhouse Visa to launch the first Visa digital wallet in Ethiopia, a move the operator claimed modernises remittance and bolster its fintech business.

Brazilian ISP InfoRR is partnering with service provider 4WNet Telecomunicações to build a new DWDM optical network using equipment from Brazilian vendor Padtec to expand operations from the state of Roraima to Amazonas.

The Acting Board of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) has signed two major regulations which, it argues, are aimed at enhancing opportunities for many Liberians, including entrepreneurs, and will improve service quality and government revenue.

Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, has announced an investment in Yondr Group, a leading global hyperscale data centre developer.

Bhutan Telecom is deploying Ciena’s coherent routing solutions to support booming data traffic demands in the Kingdom of Bhutan.

A2P voice and messaging solutions provider Vox Solutions said on Tuesday it has signed an exclusive interworking agreement Libyan mobile operator Almadar Aljadid to help it combat A2P SMS and flash call fraud.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in collaboration with the country’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has launched a data-capturing scheme for Nigerian farmers.

The African smartphone market saw smartphone shipments grow by 6% year-on-year to 17.8 million units in Q2 2024, continuing recovery over the past three quarters against macroeconomic volatility.

Peru’s recently published Legislative Decree 1627, related to 5G deployment, comes with an attractive offer: 5G spectrum, at no apparent cost, in exchange for coverage.

Zambia has completed the construction of a ground receiving station which it says will pave the way for the launch of the country's long-awaited first satellite.

Bayanat, a provider of AI-powered geospatial solutions, and Yahsat, the UAE’s flagship satellite solutions provider, have announced the successful launch of their first low Earth orbit (LEO) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite. It went into orbit at the end of last week.

Nokia announced it secured a contract from TIM Brasil to expand the operator’s 5G network across 15 Brazilian states in January 2025, a move that will deliver high-speed connectivity to a wider population and enable enterprises to tap into digital services.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has kicked off a consultation process to develop a new framework that will make it easier for LEO satellite operators such as Starlink to acquire a licence to offer services.