Yahsat Government Solutions (YGS), the dedicated government arm of Yahsat, which offers multi-mission satellite services in more than 150 countries, has been awarded a contract, whose value is estimated at US$247.5 million, to provide enhanced managed services to the UAE government for its satellite communications capabilities.

Further evidence of the continuing importance of satellites in extending the reach of mobile services come from Brazil where satcoms equipment and services giant Hughes has announced the successful three-month pilot of what it calls a new Community LTE service in five villages in Brazil.

There’s been a shift in ownership of the dominant telecoms player in the West African island country of Sao Tome and Principe.

Brazilian operators Claro Brasil, Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) and TIM Brasil are set to take control of the spectrum licences currently held by Oi Movel, after the country’s National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) granted approval for the transfer.

Overall spending on information and communications technology (ICT) across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) will top $229 billion this year, an increase of 2.7% over 2021, said a study.

Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cable operators in its region, and Grid Telecom, subsidiary of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) in Greece, have signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) to connect Greece and Egypt using submarine cable infrastructure.

At its 2022 Virtual Investor Day Millicom, a provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications services dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand, has made some key investment announcements.

In another example of the apparently unstoppable growth of digital finance in Africa, the African Development Fund (ADF) and the government of Malawi have signed a grant agreement for $14.2 million to undertake infrastructure upgrades and create a more efficient and transparent digital payment system.

Submarine fibre optic cable systems operator Seabras 1 Brasil (Seaborn) announced its network has been approved to provide connectivity to the Brazilain Stock Exchange (B3, enhancing the financial services market in Brazil. 

Saudi ICT infrastructure firm Tawal is making a full acquisition of Pakistani tower company AWAL Telecom from its shareholders.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies has added a multi-cloud-based solution from Teridion to its backbone services as part of its efforts to offer internet services that match changing enterprise needs.

Pan-African telecommunications service provider Seacom is acquiring selected infrastructure assets from Africell in Uganda.

Wireless internet service provider XCIEN and fixed wireless access expert Tarana have announced a new partnership to bring high-speed, reliable internet service to businesses and residential areas across Mexico with plans ranging from 100 to 400 Mbps.

The latest part of the long-running spectrum auction saga in South Africa is due to take place during the week of 11-14 April when regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and operator Telkom will meet in court.

Namibian power utility NamPower has deployed Ribbon’s IP Optical portfolio for its “The GridOnline” project.

Israeli operator Cellcom has selected Anodot’s end-to-end  zero touch network monitoring solution to improve service availability and provide early detection of potential network issues before they impact the customer experience.

Quantum Switch Tamasuk (QST), a Saudi company specialising in the design, build, financing and operation of data centres, has signed a key business principle agreement with the kingdom’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to develop and operate new data centres with a total capacity of 300MW by 2026.

National Narrowband Network Company (NNNCo), operator of the Australian national LoRaWAN network powered by Actility, has signed a contract with a European technology provider Wellness TechGroup, to provide IoT network coverage to 70,000 smart streetlights in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo.

From Peru and the Dominican Republic come reminders that much of Latin America still lacks digital connectivity. However, in both countries, efforts are under way to provide it.

Israeli fuel cell company GenCell announced a new solution that generates power from ammonia in off-grid locations for telecom infrastructure and mobile operators.

The suspension of bidding for a second new Ethiopian mobile licence will not affect earlier licence winner Safaricom’s permission to offer mobile financial services, according to Dr Eyob Tekalgn Tolina, the State Minister of the country’s Ministry of Finance.

South Africa’s Independent Communications Authority (ICASA) will hold public hearings to review call termination rules, as the country’s largest operators dispute over a rule change eight years ago.

Customers of Ugandan operator Smile Communications have reportedly been unable to access its services for several days.

Brazilian regional telecom operator Copel Telecom has acquired Curitiba-based ISP and data centre provider Nova Fibra from ABL group in a deal valued at BRL500 million (US$ 94.7 million).

Zimbabwe operator Telecel announced its network is back to full working operation and rebuffed rumours it was shuttering due to debt, as customers experienced service outages due to expired licenses.

Mexico could see a 5G spectrum auction later this year following the IFT (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones)’s approval of its Annual Work Programme 2022.

Vodafone Oman has tapped Syniverse to enable 5G roaming services in the Sultanate of Oman.

Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers has laid out its strategy for implementing 5G, which could see the technology become commercial available within 2022.

Following yesterday’s news that India is expecting a data centre development boom, activity in that sector also seems to be ramping up in Saudi Arabia, where internal and external investors have announced big plans.

Telecom Italia Brazil has appointed its fourth permanent CEO naming Alberto Griselli as its head, a role which was vacated when Pietro Labriola was unanimously appointed as group CEO.