Inmarsat Maritime, part of satellite communications company Inmarsat, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aramco, a global integrated energy and chemicals company headquartered in Saudi Arabia, to undertake a 5G mesh network trial that aims to provide high-bandwidth connectivity for Aramco’s offshore work in the Arabian Gulf.

Omantel announced that it has signed a strategic agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to address data residency and security requirements, especially for government entities and regulated industries in Oman.

Ericsson has announced a strategic three-year neutral host provider (NHP) agreement with Advanced Communications and Electronics Systems (ACES), an international neutral host provider, aimed at the Saudi Arabian market.

An educational institution and a technology company in the UAE have announced a collaboration to drive IoT advances.

Zoho Corp, a leading global technology company, has announced the opening of two Middle East data centres in Saudi Arabia. Located in Jeddah and Riyadh, the two data centres are now fully operational. With this addition, Zoho Corp now has 18 data centres worldwide.

Oil and gas production are major industries in the Middle East, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and other regions covered by this publication. But should telecoms monitor the effect of these industries on the environment – and if so, how? Two possible answers come in the form of a recently launched satellite.

MTN South Africa has launched a new collaboration with the Gauteng Provincial Community Police Board in a bid to address network infrastructure theft and vandalism.

Nokia announced it partnered with Indian optical and digital solutions company STL to develop enterprise and government-focused connectivity solutions. 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced on Monday that it plans to launch an AWS infrastructure region in Saudi Arabia in 2026, and pledged to invest more than US$5.3 billion in the country.

MWC 2024 may be over, but MWC news relating to sustainability is still coming in, this time involving Qatar-headquartered service provider Ooredoo and tech giant Nokia, announcing that they have solidified their shared commitment to sustainable innovation by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Satellite technology company Avanti Communications has been granted the authorisation required for its HYLAS 4 satellite gateway station in Diamniadio, Senegal, about 32 kilometres from Dakar.

Smartphone shipments in Africa grew 6% to 68.7 million units in full-year 2023 due to rising consumer confidence in H2. 

MTN Group warned that its annual profits could plunge by 90% due to the devaluation of the Nigeria’s currency affecting its MTN Nigeria unit. 

Ooredoo Group revealed on Sunday that it has partnered with Microsoft Azure and over-the-top (OTT) streaming solutions provider MediaKind to launch its first OTT streaming platform in six markets.

Nepalese telco Ncell revealed on Friday it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabian telco e& international to collaborate on delivering key digital services, products, and platforms in Nepal.

Eutelsat Group and satellite engineering enterprise Q-KON have revealed that multiple digital banks in South Africa have now gone live on Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO satellite network.

At Huawei’s Day0 Forum 2024, taking place on the eve of Mobile World Congress 2024, MTN Group’s Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Chika Ekeji, gave a keynote speech to explain how 5G is driving digital progress in Africa.

China Mobile International (CMI) announced at Mobile World Congress 2024 that it has struck an alliance with stc Group to advance deployment and implementation of IoT connectivity services for businesses.

UAE-based operator du is looking to build on its success in fixed wireless access (FWA) by launching more specialised consumer and enterprise products, as the operator pushes for more market share gains against main rival Etisalat (e&).

Despite many claims to energy efficiency, data centres still have questions to answer about water usage, something highlighted by a Chilean environmental court’s partial reversal of a permit allowing Google to build a data centre in the country.

Equitel, Finserve's mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has announced the debut of its 5G network in Kenya. It is the first Kenyan MVNO to roll out 5G.

Mastercard and MTN Group Fintech have signed a multi-market agreement that will use Mastercard’s technology and capabilities to support MTN’s ambition to become Africa’s largest fintech platform for both merchants and consumers.

Among a number of significant announcements at MWC 2024 by Orange Middle East & Africa (OMEA), a major telecom player in the region, have been collaborations with Microsoft and the World Bank.

Colombian local connectivity service provider INRED and global satellite operator SES have kicked off a project to deliver high-throughput satellite services for the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MinTic) to support digital inclusion projects across the country.

At Mobile World Congress 2024, Ericsson and Turkcell signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance 6G research and development in Turkey.

Telecom Egypt released a barrage of announcements at Mobile World Congress this week covering two 5G partnerships, Africa’s first 1.2 Tbps fibre connection and a 50G PON trial.

A renewed and expanded deal between Openserve and Intelsat and could signal a major boost for connectivity in South Africa.

Turkcell, the largest mobile operator in Turkey, and satellite-direct-to-mobile-telecoms (Sat2Phone) provider Lynk Global have announced a contract signing signalling the start of initial Sat2Phone services utilising what Lynk calls its ‘cell-towers-in-space’.

Ericsson and Saudi Arabian IoT digital solutions provider iot squared have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at MWC 2024 to offer the Ericsson Connected Recycling (ECR) platform as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) in Saudi Arabia.

There’s been another announcement at MWC 2024 from Intelsat, operator of one of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks, this time involving a project with prominent telecommunications firm and systems integrator Saudi Net Link (SNL).

Egyptian operator Etisalat Misr by e& and digital BSS specialist Qvantel have announced that they have signed an agreement at MWC to implement the Qvantel Flex BSS solution to help in the digital transformation of Etisalat BSS.

Global satellite operator Intelsat announced on Tuesday it has renewed and expanded its relationship with South African telecoms infrastructure provider Openserve to include new hardware and satellite connectivity.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Tuesday that its digital operator in Pakistan, Jazz, has launched a new mobile service brand called ROX that targets digital natives with an “integrated lifestyle experience”.