Smartphone shipments have for the first time surpassed feature phone stock in Africa,  showcasing the rise in adoption of more advanced handsets across the region.

MEA digital commerce firm Network International announced that telecoms operator Airtel has appointed it as an issuing payments processor for its operations across the African continent.

While mobile remains the dominant form of communications across much of sub-Saharan Africa, fibre is continuing to make inroads into many, arguably very tough, markets for fixed communications, including, if recent reports prove correct, South Sudan.

UAE-headquartered satellite solutions provider Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) says it has contracted satellite manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space for its new geostationary (GEO) telecommunications satellites, Al Yah 4 (AY4) and Al Yah 5 (AY5).

Infrastructure provider Bahrain Network (BNET) announced late last week the launch of a project to transfer all the kingdom's copper internet networks to an ultra-high-speed fibre network.

“Breaking news,” says the MTN Cameroon Twitter feed, continuing: “Canal+ is now available on MTN TV.” Yes, MTN Cameroon has partnered Canal+ to deploy a streaming platform. But how will this service benefit Cameroon’s leading network – and its users?

Telecom Egypt and subsea data system supplier SubCom said on Wednesday that they have successfully completed two cable landing stations in Egypt for the India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) subsea cable system.

Padtec, a Brazilian multinational specialising in high-capacity connections, and Peruvian telecommunications company Satelital have announced a partnership to meet the growing demand for submarine networks in Latin America.

Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity service Sigfox has been chosen by South Africa’s National Treasury, which manages national economic policy, prepares the annual budget and manages the government's finances, to support South Africa’s new smart water meter ecosystem.

Satellite operator SES and UZ-SAT, the Republic of Uzbekistan’s national broadband satellite service provider, have announced plans to sign an agreement to deliver what are described as unparalleled connectivity services throughout Uzbekistan via the SES GEO satellite NSS-12.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has partnered with Medi Telecom, part of the Orange Group, in Morocco.

Silica Networks, the telecommunications division of the technology-focused Datco Group, has acquired the operation of wholesale fibre optic connectivity services operator Internexa in Argentina. The purchase of Internexa is said to be Datco Group's 27th acquisition.

Telecommunications operator and ICT provider Ooredoo Qatar has announced what it calls its pioneering Clean Energy – Super Hybrid programme.

Ericsson announced on Monday that Vodafone Egypt has become the first mobile operator to deploy its triple-band radio, which supports both FDD and TDD spectrum, as part of its network modernisation and capacity expansion initiative.

Cape Verde, the West African island country, has found unusual potential in its internet domain which it recently opened for registrations from anywhere in the world.

The LoRa Alliance, the global association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN standard for the internet of things (IoT) low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), has announced the accreditation of DEKRA’s Atibaia, Brazil, facility as a LoRa Alliance Authorised Test Lab (ATL). This is the first ATL in Latin and South America.

Mobile service revenue in India was predicted to yield a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3%  from US$27.7 billion in 2023 to US$32.6 billion by 2028, due to adoption of data services, according to analyst company GlobalData.

Global smartphone shipments are predicted to grow by 4% year-on-year in 2024 to 1.21 billion units due to rebounding consumer demand.

Malaysian property developer Mah Sing Group threw its hat in the country’s increasingly crowded data centre ring on Thursday by launching a new site in Southville City and announcing Bridge Data Centres (BDC) as its first partner.

Multi-service operator Orange Middle East & Africa (OMEA) and cloud technology provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced plans to bring AWS Wavelength, a new type of AWS infrastructure designed to run workloads that require low latency or edge resiliency, to Morocco and Senegal later this year.

UAE-based Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) announced on Wednesday that it has struck a partnership with Indian satellite ground equipment firm SATCOM Technologies to explore opportunities to provide satellite services in Zimbabwe.

A puzzling chain of events has seen the Mozambican government suspend the new mobile communications tariffs which its own regulatory body for telecommunications had decided were necessary on 2 May.

The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has established the Neo Space Group (NSG), a wholly owned PIF company whose mission will be to become a national champion in the Saudi satellite and space sector.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Tuesday that it has struck a deal to sell off its minority stake in Kazakh wholesale telecoms infrastructure services provider TNS+ to focus on its mobile operation, Beeline Kazakhstan.

Nokia announced on Tuesday that it has teamed with Global Fiber Peru to help complete deployment of a new subaquatic fibre network to bring multi-gigabit broadband access to 400 communities in the Amazon rainforest.

Data centre operator Raxio Data Centres has announced the opening of Raxio Mozambique (Raxio MZ1), the country’s first Tier III Uptime-certified data centre. Plans for the centre were revealed in 2021. Building began in late 2022.

Smartphone shipments in Latin America surged 23.3% year-on-year in Q1 due to retailers moving to clear inventory, and Chinese vendors pushing aggressively.

LEO satellite operator Starlink has been cleared for a licence to offer services in Zimbabwe by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who said he has given the country’s telecoms regulator approval to do so.

Telkom South Africa’s planned US$355 million selloff of its Swiftnet tower business to infrastructure-focused private equity firm Actis cleared another hurdle on Friday after its shareholders unanimously voted in favor of the deal.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has reportedly decided to let mobile operators pay spectrum fees in local currency rather than the costlier option of US dollars.