Ethiopia state-owned operator Ethio Telecom missed its H1 revenue target by 13.6% due to ongoing military conflict in the country.

With hopes high that the country might finally be able to auction spectrum after many delays, it seems that South Africa’s operators are now keen to get involved in the process.

The results of the Series 1 Offer for the sale of MTN Nigeria ordinary shares have come in – and by all accounts they seem to be very positive.

Indian state-run provider BSNL looks set to begin offering commercial 4G this year following years of delays.

After news that Peru and Ecuador have indicated that they support the proposal of the Andean Committee of High Telecommunications Authorities (CAATEL) to extend the elimination of international roaming costs in the Andean region to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, who – or where – will be next?

Brazilian regulator Anatel unanimously approved the sale of Oi’s mobile unit Oi Movel to a consortium of its former rivals in a vote held on 31^st January.

FreeMove Alliance, the global mobile telecommunications alliance between Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telia and Telecom Italia, and Latin American telecom giant Millicom have announce a major new partnership agreement.

Sigfox, the self-described global 0G network and cloud provider for industrial data, has filed for bankruptcy protection and is seeking a buyer. This is despite having raised over $300 million in venture funding and seemingly being well on the way to building a global IoT communications network.

Mobile innovation continues to bring new money services to Africans, most recently in the form of mobile life insurance in Ghana and remittance from Europe for mobile money account holders in Cameroon.

Rock Connect has selected Nokia to deploy a 4G-LTE Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network in Jamaica.

Kazakhstan is finalising new draft legislation covering spectrum licences ahead of a competitive tender later this year.

Kenya will be launching its first software-defined nanosatellite later this year, according to the two companies behind the development and launch of the satellite.

Microwave link measurement has taken to the skies of Paraguay  after a recently announced deal involving drones.

Israel’s Partner Communications has been awarded a contract for a new fibre link connecting two continents.

In a major deal anounced this week, Eutelsat Communications has been selected by Intersat to help deliver internet connectivity for three countries in West Africa.

Infobip has implemented a WhatsApp-based chat banking solution for fintech start-up Afridig Wallets.

After a few months during which South Africa’s operators have had a number of reported disagreements with each other or the South Africa regulator, MTN, Vodacom, Telkom, Cell C and Liquid Intelligent Technologies have now joined forces in a common cause: to take on criminals.

The finance ministry of Chad has decreed that equipment related to telecom and internet services, including network equipment, devices, modems and routers, are exempt from import duties and taxes for the next five years.

IHS Towers, which describes itself as one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure in the world by tower count, just got even bigger after a major acquisition in Brazil.

Will South Africa’s next spectrum auction now go ahead on 8 March as planned? A compromise gesture on the part of operator Telkom, whose court proceedings threatened to derail the process, implies that it may.

With its economy so heavily dependent on tourism, the Maldives has suffered heavy economic as well as health casualties during the pandemic. The country had a relatively short period of lockdown and was willing to welcome visitors back as early as July 2020.

Effective regulatory reform has made Botswana’s telecom market one of the most liberalised in the region. There is a service-neutral licensing regime adapted to the convergence of technologies and services, and several operators now compete in all telecom sectors.

Brazil has one of the largest mobile markets in Latin America due to the sheer size of its population. Healthy competition in the mobile market has helped reduce the price of mobile services in Brazil in recent years and mobile service providers have had much success in converting their customers from prepaid to contract plans.

Uruguay has an advanced telecom market, with excellent infrastructure and one of the highest broadband penetration rates in Latin America. Fixed-line teledensity is also particularly high for the region, while mobile penetration is the second highest after Panama.

Integrated payments technology company FSS (Financial Software and Systems) has partnered with the United Arab Emirates-based YAP, a digital banking platform, to deliver secure, digital first-card experiences to consumers in the Middle-East and African regions.

Poa Internet, an internet service provider that connects underserved communities in Kenya, has announced the first close of a $28 million financing round led by infrastructure investment platform Africa50.

Nicaragua is the largest and least densely populated country in Central America. The country’s steady GDP growth since 2010 belies the low economic base, given that it has the lowest GDP per capita in the region, with some 60% of the population living below the poverty line.

Guatemala’s telecom infrastructure has suffered from years of underinvestment from state and provincial governments.

The fixed broadband market is one of the few parts of Costa Rica’s telecom sector to experience solid growth in recent years, both in size and revenue.

One of the smaller countries in Central America, Belize in many respects has closer affinities with English speaking countries of the Caribbean than with its immediate neighbours.

In what we are told is only a temporary measure, Peru’s National Telecommunications Programme (Pronatel), part of the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC), has taken over the operation and maintenance of the National Fibre Optic Backbone (RDNFO).