A lively debate has opened up over Chilean regulator Subtel’s decision to reduce the amount of spectrum it had originally earmarked for Wi-Fi, delighting mobile industry group the GSMA but upsetting Wi-Fi proponents like the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA), which promotes and showcases the value of spectrum sharing.

Telecel Zimbabwe’s troubles are continuing, with reports from the country’s press that the smallest of the country’s three mobile operators is set to be placed under corporate rescue, a form of bankruptcy protection, due to serious financial distress.

As mobile and digital money become more widely used across Africa, so public and private bodies are responding to fears of fraud, as recent news from Ghana and Kenya indicates.

Airtel Kenya announced the separation of its mobile money unit from its core network operations as the operator complies with regulations set by the central bank, ending a process three years in the making.

Nigeria’s Globacom has joined the rush to open payment service banks (PSBs) with the launch of its MoneyMaster PSB offering. MoneyMaster was granted a payment service bank licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2020.

Safaricom is set to launch M-Pesa to rival Ethio Telecom’s Telebirr, boosting the Ethiopian economy up to two mobile money platforms.  

Uruguay’s Senate has approved new legislation that will end the fixed broadband monopoly held by state-owned telco Antel.

As has long been expected, a law has been passed in the Philippines making SIM card registration compulsory.

Pan-African operator Airtel Africa and ATC Africa, American Tower Corporation’s African operation, have announced a multi-year, multi-product agreement.

Google has announced the launch of a cloud region in South Africa, its first in the African continent. South Africa now joins Google’s network of 35 cloud regions and 106 zones worldwide.

Telefonica Brasil (Vivo), Claro and TIM have signalled intentions to launch court proceedings against bankrupt rival Oi, for allegedly breaching contractual terms of the deal for Oi’s mobile assets, reported CommsUpdate.

South Africa’s MultiChoice Group is perhaps best known for its DStv satellite TV service that is a major force in sub-Saharan Africa. However, it has now aggressively entered the fibre internet market by bringing both DStv and internet into its own uncapped fibre products offering at heavily discounted prices.

The proposed merger of VTR and Claro Chile has been cleared by Chile’s FNE (Fiscalia Nacional Economica / National Economic Prosecutor).

Uzbekistan’s state-backed provider of fixed and mobile services Uzbektelecom has signed a raft of new deals with Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE.

Hard on the heels of the announcement of the official inauguration of its new office in Hyderabad, wireless technology company Silicon Labs has told local media that it plans to take its India office headcount to 1,500 professionals by 2025.

While some sub-Saharan African countries are making things difficult for telecommunications operators and equipment suppliers through new or increased taxes, Zambia appears to be taking a different route – at least when it comes to infrastructure.

After blocking the sale of NuevaTel PCS in August, Bolivian regulator ATT (Autoridad de Regulacion y Fiscalizacion de Telecomunicaciones y Transportes) has now threatened to revoke the mobile operator’s licence.

The Kenyan government regained full control over Telkom Kenya after forking out KES6.09 billion (US$50.3m) for the 60% majority stake held by British investment firm Helios Investment Partners, reported Ecofin Agency.

Yet another SIM card registration exercise is having problems after reports that in Kenya, as the latest registration deadline draws closer, some 15 million SIM cards could be rendered unusable by 15 October.

The Oman-Australia undersea cable linking Perth and Muscat, is, according to the company that built it, ready for service.

Bangladeshi operator Robi Axiata hired former Ooredoo Myanmar head Rajeev Sethi as its new chief executive officer, an appointment to advance market share.  

The Raxio Group, a leading pan-African data centre developer and operator, recently held a ground-breaking ceremony that formally kicked off the construction of its Tier-III carrier neutral colocation data centre, located at Beluluane Industrial Park (MozParks) in Maputo, Mozambique.