Nokia and Telecom Argentina have announced a collaboration agreement which will help foster the GSMA’s Open Gateway ecosystem for network operations in Latin America.

At Mobile World Congress on Monday, payments company Visa and the GSMA Mobile for Development Foundation (a.k.a. the GSMA Foundation) launched the Digital Finance for All (DFA) Initiative to advance digital financial inclusion in developing markets.

ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin has announced over US$9 billion in investment commitments from mobile operator groups to extend global connectivity. The announcement was made yesterday at MWC 2024.

Jordan-based operator Umniah has awarded business support systems company Tecnotree a new multimillion-dollar deal.

Seacom, which claims ownership of Africa’s most extensive ICT data infrastructure, apparently experienced an outage on its subsea cable system over the weekend.

Digital infrastructure company Equinix is, according to a number of news outlets, planning to invest US$390 million in building data centres in Africa over the next five years.

Among satellite operator Intelsat’s announcements for MWC 2024 is news of a communications service in Madagascar running in 65 communities, providing first-time connectivity to about 100,000 people.

Smart city solutions provider Tadoom announced on Sunday it has struck a strategic cooperation agreement with China Telecom to deploy an AI-powered, cloud-based CCTV open management platform in Oman.

Robi Axiata’s digital services subsidiary Axentec officially launched on Friday what it says is Bangladesh’s first prefabricated certified Tier-IV Commercial Co-Location Data Centre.

Ericsson and Telenor Microfinance Bank (TMB) have signed a multi-year extension of their existing partnership to expand TMB’s mobile wallet easypaisa and establish TMB as a full-fledged digital bank in Pakistan.

Telcos in Indonesia and South Africa on Thursday launched new API services focused on enhancing security and customer experience as part of the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.

Movistar Colombia has begun the deployment of 5G, making it the first operator to roll out the technology in the country.

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, one of the world's leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, and TWTG, a pioneer in Industrial Internet of Things (I-IoT) solutions, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Open RAN vendor Parallel Wireless says it has expanded its collaboration on Open RAN initiatives with Türk Telekom to include its energy-saving xApps solution and AMD-based 5G massive MIMO solution in the operator’s trial cluster.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Wednesday that it has a launched a “Geolocation Gateway” that offers location-based APIs for enterprise developers , with its subsidiary Beeline Uzbekistan the first of its stable of operators to implement it.

Teraco, Africa’s largest interconnection hub and vendor-neutral data centre provider, is planning the construction of a 120MW utility-scale solar PV energy facility in the Free State province of South Africa.

Global communications provider Omnispace has announced that Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) has approved its subsidiary Omnispace Comunicações Brasil Ltda’s request to operate its non-geostationary satellite (NGSO) system nationwide.

Could the long delayed partial sell-off of Ethio Telecom finally be taking place? Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has indicated this week that his government is discussing selling 10% of the state-owned telecoms company.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) signed a cooperation agreement with Vodacom to bolster its M-Pesa mobile money platform in Mozambique, a move to boost financial inclusion in the country. 

EDGNEX, a global digital infrastructure provider owned by Damac Properties, a leading luxury real estate developer in the UAE, has announced the establishment of a joint venture company with Vodafone to build a data centre in Izmir, a city in western Turkey on the coast of the Aegean Sea, with an estimated investment of US$100 million.

There’s been a strong statement from GSMA Latin America, a regional division of industry association the GSMA, on the GSMA website, under the heading A Call to Action to Ensure the Development of the Internet and the Digital Future of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa competition commission opened an investigation into American Tower Corporation and Airtel Africa, for alleged anti-competitive conduct, after the two companies signed a partnership agreement in 2022. 

Nokia unveiled what it claimed to be the telecoms industry’s first Multi-Access Edge Slicing service which it will showcase with UAE operator e& at MWC this month, and how operators can generate new revenues with it.  

Globe Teleservices announced on Monday it has entered into an exclusive strategic alliance with Tigo Tanzania to deploy its intelligent firewall solution for A2P SMS.

Following the recent announcement of its data centre plans for Africa, beginning with a 36MW data centre in Lagos, Bharti Airtel’s African unit has confirmed that it will develop a data centre in Nairobi.

The workers union of state-owned Indian operator BSNL said the operator is “sinking” into “crisis”, after claiming equipment from Tata Consultancy Services needed for its long-delayed 4G launch will take a year to be ready for commercial use.

UAE-based satellite operator Yahsat has announced the launch of what it calls an ambitious direct-to-device (D2D) strategy to elevate global connectivity by directly enabling smartphone users and IoT devices across the world to leverage the power of space tech, regardless of location.

The Santiago-headquartered Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC – or CEPAL in Spanish), one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations, and founded with the purpose of contributing to the economic development of Latin America, has unveiled what it calls its Digital Development Observatory (DDO).

India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has made its official debut in Sri Lanka and Mauritius, with Nepal reportedly next on the list as India’s real-time payments system continues its international expansion.

Bahrain service provider Batelco and state-owned UAE telecommunications company e& (Etisalat and) have signed an MoU for the landing of the Al Khaleej Cable in the United Arab Emirates.

The Israeli government revealed it approved the use of Starlink satellites in a field hospital in the war-torn Gaza Strip and in Israel for the first time, Reuters reported.