The Jordanian Telecommunications Regulatory Commission penned an agreement with operator Zain in preparation for the launch of 5G services, following similar deals with Orange and Umniah.

Brazilian newcomer Winity Telecom has signed a six-year deal with Amdocs to support its deployment of 4G and 5G networks across remote rural areas of Brazil.

A long-running dispute over unused spectrum in and around the 3500MHz band in Costa Rica appears to be at an end after an agreement this week between the government and the state utility that owned the spectrum.

Telefonica Moviles (Movistar) has commenced its rollout of a 5G-ready network in El Salvador.

A spectrum auction in Guatemala in the mid-2.5GHZ band, delayed for a number of years, is, apparently, set to go ahead.

The World Bank's private investment arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has announced plans to invest in Safaricom Ethiopia.

BICS, an international connectivity enabler, and satellite-direct-to-phone telecoms company Lynk Global, have signed an agreement to enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to expand mobile coverage to people in remote areas around the world.

Nigeria has, for now, held off on plans to impose a 5% tax on telecommunications services that the Ministry of Finance and the Nigerian Customs Service had suggested would be imposed in 2023.

Safaricom expanded its network pilot to the Oromia region, as the operator continues plans to deploy its commercial network in stages with the aim of connecting 25 locations by April next year.

Uzbekistan’s state-owned mobile provider Mobiuz has begun offering 5G services in areas of Tashkent.

Investor 3i Infrastructure has completed a $512 million investment to acquire a 100% stake in Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), a leading global data communications service provider and owner of the world’s largest private subsea fibre optic networks.

Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA) has ordered the country’s mobile operators to temporarily block calls and data services for unregistered SIM cards as part of its registration drive.

South Africa’s Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has announced plans to shut down South Africa’s 2G and 3G networks by 2025. The proposal has now been published for public comment.

A war of words appears to have broken out in Burundi following the decision by the authorities to close operator Smart.

Two of the biggest players in the cloud space, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google, are planning to enhance their presence in South Africa.

Smartphone shipments for Latin America declined 2.5% year-on-year to 32.2 million units in Q2 but proved to be a bright spot as the global smartphone market collectively dropped 9%.

Vodacom launched its non-standalone commercial 5G network in Tanzania, delivering higher download speeds and enabling new technologies such as IoT in the country.

MTN Sudan has deployed LigaData’s data analytics and AI platform to accelerate its digital transformation strategy.

MTN Nigeria has signed a multi-million-dollar deal with Tecnotree, a major player in the business support system (BSS) space, for the deployment of 5G-ready digital BSS solutions.

Lebanon has seen nationwide internet shutdowns as employees of state-owned telco Ogero walked out in protest over the company’s failure to adjust their wages in the face of the country’s devastating economic crisis.

Argentina’s sell-off of unused 4G spectrum in the 2600MHz band has raised US$27.7 million for the country’s National Communications Agency ENACOM (Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones).

Mexican operator Telmex offered union workers a new deal that bolsters retirement packages in an attempt to smooth relations with striking workers.

Equatorial Guinea could see its internet services disconnected in as little as two weeks if it fails to make outstanding payments to its bandwidth providers.

The private network concept isn’t waiting for 5G, as Nokia and AT&T Mexico have just shown by deploying what they call the first industrial-grade LTE private network in a maritime terminal in the country.

Palestine Cellular Communications Ltd (Jawwal), a leading Palestinian provider of cellular communications, has signed an exclusive interworking agreement with international voice and messaging specialist Vox Solutions for direct termination of A2P (application-to-person) SMS international traffic to Jawwal's network.

Telecommunications services provider Saudi Telecommunication Company (STC) says it has launched its first high-speed cable in the Red Sea, through a landing station in Jeddah.

The telecoms-led financial revolution is continuing in Africa. This time it’s South Africa’s Vodacom Financial Services that has extended the scope of digital finance with VodaLend Cash Advance, described as a product that gives customers quick and secure access to money when they need it most.

Three Zambian mobile operators, MTN Zambia, Airtel Networks Zambia and Zamtel, have reportedly set up an industry lobby group called The Global System for Mobile Association of Zambia (GSMAZ).

MTN Nigeria launched an open 5G pilot ahead of its commercial launch making it one of very few operators to offer 5G on the continent.