Beleaguered Brazilian fixed-line provider Oi has been authorised to take out a loan of US$275 million from its creditors.

Apple officially revealed it will open its first retail stores in India this month, marking a significant expansion in India as the company seeks growth and refocus manufacturing in the South Asian nation.

There’s been another piece of positive news for the still relatively nascent satellite-direct-to-standard-phone market with a contract in Ghana for Lynk Global.

One of the latest examples of 5G use in an industry-specific context comes from Uganda, where vendor Huawei has, alongside MTN Uganda and Hima Cement Company, launched what it describes as the country's first 5G industrial use case in a Hima cement plant.

SpaceX’s Starlink has been granted a licence to provide satellite broadband in the Bahamas.

UAE-based e& is acquiring a 50.03% stake in Uber’s Middle East subsidiary Careem Super App for US$400 million, in a deal that will significantly expand the operator’s e-commerce standing.

State-owned operator Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT-Mobitel) is reportedly facing a massive restructuring as the government announced plans to cut costs.

The World Bank has approved funding for digital initiatives in two African nations.

Zain Jordan has selected Nokia in a multi-year deal to supply 5G radio access network (RAN) equipment throughout the country. Through the deal, says Nokia, Zain will be able to support the digital transformation of the country by offering superior 5G services with enhanced connectivity and capacity to customers. A major part of the deployment is expected to be completed during 2023.

Chilean regulator Subtel has granted the local unit of Claro provisional authorisation to offer commercial 5G services via its 3.5GHz spectrum.

Apple revealed a first look at its first retail store in India which will be located in the city of Mumbai, and sourced claimed it will be open in April, reported Reuters.

While a national consumer promotion would not normally be big news on these pages, the recently announced promotion by new market entrant Safaricom Ethiopia is possibly more significant than most.

A press release attributed to the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda underlines the continuing issue of communications charges across Africa – this time relating to the internet.

Following Monday’s news that Uruguay’s president had ordered the country’s regulator to hold a 5G spectrum auction within 30 days, URSEC has now confirmed the date as 28^th April and invited bidding applications from interested parties.

Mexico’s Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT) has granted an additional 30 years of validity to concessions held by fixed line providers Telmex and Telnor.

Thuraya, the mobile satellite services subsidiary of the UAE’s flagship satellite solutions provider Yahsat, has concluded Heads of Terms for an investment agreement with Astrocast, a leading low Earth orbit (LEO) and Internet of Things (IoT) network operator.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zambian government, committing to deploy more infrastructure to provide affordable connectivity to Zambians.

Brazilian broadband provider Unifique struck a deal to acquire regional provider Brick Servicos Digitais for BRL10 million (US$2 million), reported BNamericas.

Operator Ooredoo Qatar and Reailize, a company that says it injects automation intelligence into every aspect of telco operations, have announced that Ooredoo Qatar has implemented Reailize's Continuous Assurance (CA) solution to digitize its network operations centre (NOC) and provide what is described as a single pane of glass into the health of its network, service and customer experience.

Vehicle tracking and telematics company Netstar and Vodacom Business (the enterprise-focused ICT subsidiary of the Vodacom Group) have partnered to offer Wi-Fi to commuters on thousands of minibus taxis around South Africa.

As part of its debt-cutting plan, Digicel Group announced three-quarters of bondholders are set to take shares in the company to resolve its debts and reduce founder Denis O’Brien’s stake from 99.9% to 10% to have US$1.8 billion written off, reported the Irish Times.

Industrial action by employees of Lebanon’s state-run Ogero has been suspended by the Executive Council of the fixed operator’s union.

Veon Group announced it will use OneWeb low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites to extend its coverage in emerging markets.

It may come as little surprise to learn that mobile operator MTN South Africa is investing heavily to combat site vandalism and battery theft, but both are partly due to the problem of load shedding and power cuts, which MTN has also been forced to address.

African digital payments network MFS Africa has announced another deal targeting the remittance market. This time it is partnering Nigeria’s Access Bank to enable outward remittances from Kenya and Nigeria.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has called for state-owned TTCL (Tanzania Telecommunication Corporation) to reconsider its future as an operator given its failure in the telecoms space.

Uruguay’s regulator URSEC has until the end of April to hold 5G spectrum auctions after the tender’s specifications were cleared by the country’s President Luis Lacalle Pou on 30^th March.

MTN and Vodafone expanded a pilot roaming agreement nationwide in Ghana to bolster connectivity in the country, reported Ghana Web.

Bangladeshi mobile money firm bKash has extended its existing partnership with Huawei.

SpaceX’s Starlink will launch operations in Ecuador on 1^st April, with its first services going live in the Galapagos Islands.

Orange Liberia has commissioned Vanu to deploy at least 200 telecom towers as it seeks to improve rural coverage in the country.